


Fear The Walking Mutes - PART II

by IllusionWriter



Series: Fear The Walking Mutes [5]
Category: Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (Cartoon)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Anyone Can Die I Think, Blood and Injury, Characters will be added as they appear - Freeform, Childhood Trauma, Dark, Developing Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Imprisonment, Major Original Character(s), Mental Instability, Minor Character(s), Mrs. Sartori is still crazy, Multiple Plots, POV Multiple, Post-Apocalypse, Psychological Torture, Psychological Trauma, Rating May Change, Redemption, Sad and Happy, Second Chances, So many tags, Story within a Story, Survival, Survival Horror, Swearing, Tags Are Hard, Tags May Change, The power of friendship isn't always enough, Thriller, Various Mutes, When megabunnies attack, alternative reality, katanas still rock, lil slice of life, longfic, no beta we die like men, original storyline
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:54:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 44,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27009913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IllusionWriter/pseuds/IllusionWriter
Summary: A safe haven they can call home has finally been been found. But in a world filled with the possibility for demise around every corner, things are bound to fall apart. Knox and his allies fight for a near-future where they can start over in peace, safe from the outside world and their past demons. But old demons die hard. Vengeful ones included. And with a particular Mute campaigning his reign all across Las Vistas, it was never going to be that simple.
Series: Fear The Walking Mutes [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1728472
Kudos: 8





	1. EP 1: Go-Getters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, a safe haven is met. But entry is not without cost.

****

**“Well...seems we’ve attracted new guests. Please forgive those two. My name is Devland...”**

**The gates to the community opened wider.**

**“And welcome to Lensvile.”**

The words ran through Knox and his group’s ears as they took in the cut-off world through the gaps.

A place where they could find definite reprise from the struggles.

A place of both humans and mutes.

“Close the gates.” Devland ordered suddenly, keeping eye contact with the newcomers.

A slight pang of worry floated through Kara’s stomach as the gates closed again.

“You can trust us, Devland! We all just want a-”

“You’ll have to earn it.” Devland cut off swiftly, giving her a grin. He paced back and forth slowly in front of them, stopping as he seemed to trail his eyes behind them. “If you heard our friend correctly from the squirrel mute...Jessie’s her name...this safe haven didn’t stay a safe haven by default. Everyone within these walls have proven very well that they’re resourceful, hard-working and truly trustworthy.”

Devland brought his eyes on Knox in particular, eying the katana strapped around his shoulder. He grinned wider. “How about this. As with any potential guest we take in, I’m giving you this one task for you all to complete as admittance into our lovely community...”

Devland walked up closer and addressed them clearly.

“Bring back three things of importance. Of my choice, of course. And within three days. After that, you are guaranteed full entry into our wonderful abode.” Devland declared, gripping his suit tie. “I’d say that’s fair task for safety, am I wrong?”

Knox, Kara, Lute and Piercer all looked at each other. They had spent so much time just surviving and moving about just trying to make it to another day...and they were being sent out again. They saw no other choice. The reward in return was simply too great to pass down.

“We agree to those terms...but why are you even making us do this?” Knox questioned. ”What’s the actual point?”

Devland clasped his fingers together. “Glad you asked! You see...” The human gestured an open hand at the community behind him.

“Everyone in the community, mind the kids, have succeeded in the task you are soon to attempt to complete. All of the community members here are relatively exceptional at finding things, tracking things, and bargaining things as well...” Devland told them. “And that is how our community thrives. We have much of what we need that will last us a very long time thanks the hard work and usefulness of our associates and neighbors here.”

“Can we at least bump it down to two items?” Lute asked out of the blue, putting on a wide smile of desperation.

Devland was unamused.

“It was originally going to be _four_ ; one for each of you. But I felt generous today.” Devland divulged, pulling out a small notepad from his back pocket. He reached for the pin clipped to his suit and began to jot something down.

“Here.”

Knox took the note and read it’s contents. Three items were listed.

_1\. A wooden figure carving._   
_2\. A book of a scientific study._   
_3\. A Pocket watch._

Sighing deeply, Knox brung his eyes up to the human, who was tapping his shoes against the ground. Clearly he was in some kind of rush.

“Alright. And we only have three days to do it...” Knox handed the paper around for the group to read before he folded the piece of paper and put it in his back pocket.

“ _Three days_. Just in case you already forgot.” Devland remarked, tucking his pen back in his suit pocket.

“Yeah, we _didn’t_.” Piercer shot back under his breath.

“Please, do be on it. I would hate to clarify that today counts as one of those days.”

Devland’s words caused everyone’s jaws to drop.

“Are you kidding?” Kara said, raising her hands in front of her, palm-up like claws. “Can you give us a break, man?”

“Today _counts_ as a day. Take it or leave it. It shouldn’t be a problem if your _truly_ ones worthy of admission here...” Devland turned back towards the community gate, waving for it to be opened once more.

“The clock has already started. Show me that your skill sets are truly of any value to this wonderful place. We’ll be counting the days.” Devland last stated as he disappeared behind the gate, leaving the group all alone.

Knox and the rest eyed the gates of their sanctuary should they finish their fight for it.

“Okay.” Knox began. “If he wants to play it the hard way...let’s play it harder.”

“Yeah, we got this. Matter of fact,” Lute pointed out to the wide array of various buildings and houses a few corners away.

“Let’s start with those. This shouldn’t be too hard.”

* * *

  
Lute struggled to keep his eyes open as he weakly pulled out the last item of the toy chest in front of him.

“How are there no carved figurines in a place like this? C’mon, at least give me a fake one...”

Kara appeared from the room next to his.

“No luck, either.” Kara mentioned irritatedly, leaning against the frame of the door. “People here weren't big fans of watches, wood stuff or anything scientific. Shame, really.”

Lute got up and moved towards the room’s window, catching the sun on it’s last glow just above the horizon. It was soon set to disappear.

“Looks like it’s time to move on.” Lute said, tossing the wooden sphere still in his hand off to the side.

  
Lute and Kara met up with Knox and Piercer as they left the neighboring building beside theirs. Knox brung a hand down his visibly exhausted face and Piercer’s eyes struggled to keep alert. They were clearly devoid of sleep, given they were faced with the possibility that their two friends were deceased, were chased by mute wolves in a rainstorm, nearly bludgeoned to death by Scooter Skunks and denied entry to the only secure place within sight. 

All without properly resting.

In other words...

“Almost midnight, everyone. It’s going to be extremely hard searching without a reliable source of light...and we definitely need to get sleep before we pass out.” Knox told everyone as he eyed the building Kara and Lute left. “Let’s rest until early morning. We should be fine then. As soon as the sun hits our eyes, we get back on it. We definitely deserve some shuteye.”

With everyone in unarguable agreement, they moved towards the house.

* * *

The sun was back in it’s full glory above the sky with only the clouds to steal it’s reign as they past over every now and then.

Giving up on the neighboring district to Lensvile, the group decided on moving further into the city and hoped to find any more places of noticeable interest. An old library, an antique store...anything.

And still no luck.

So they decided to leave behind the urban cityscape and follow way to a secluded part of the area. The stretch of various houses and were behind them as they came closer to a rundown, but still standing structure. It’s faded pink paint still stood the test of time as it’s color remained vibrant in the shining light. The giant logo of the letter ‘P’ stood center of the building.

Piercer kicked the old empty can across the ground as he followed Knox, Lute and Kara from behind.

“Piercer, you mind watching us on this one? Place looks big but we shouldn’t be more than ten.” Knox asked the Archerat as the mute got out his dagger, twirling it in between his fingers.

“I got you all covered.” Piercer replied as Knox nodded and led Kara and Lute into the old building.

Piercer ran a hand down the back of his head fur as he turned and kicked a rock into the near distance, following it’s path down the nearby grassy embankment. After glancing back at the place his group had entered, he traced his eyes down to his personal dagger.

The blade had a brown, wooden grip and a shiny golden cross-guard which separated his hand from the silver blade. Piercer’s eyes shimmered in the light that reflected against it. It was the last thing he had to remember his clan by. Given to him personally by his elder, Arrus. He missed his clan. He missed his old friends. He missed his Elder. None of it should have happened.

His grip tightened, a sudden anger overtaking him.

“Those damned _Humming Bombers_...” Piercer looked for another rock and found one, throwing it over the pink building where his friends resided.

“And _Scarlemange_...” he mentioned bitterly through gritted teeth as he searched out another rock and threw it across the large rocky hill to his right.

“When I find them...they’re gonna pay for what they did...” Piercer growled as he clutched the next rock harder than before, no longer holding back his frustration.

“Argh!” Piercer grunted loudly as he hurled the larger rock over the same rocky hill that walled him from whatever was beyond it.

A few seconds of seething before he heard an audible _‘bonk’_ on the other side.

**“RAAUUGH!”**

Piercer’s fur stood on end, the loud and echoing roar sending him stiff.

The Archerat’s pink eyes grew wide in a wordless shock as the white head of a gigantic mega mute poked it’s head past the large rock formation, blinking it’s eyes tiredly around in a confused frustration.

Then it settled it’s sights on him.

* * *

The sound of banging sent Knox, Lute and Kara back to the front faster than they already were, finding Piercer knocking hysterically on the glass door.

“Was that a roar? The heck is going on?” Kara asked herself as they got to the door.

“No time! Just run, and run fast!” Piercer screamed dashing back down the path they came. “Don’t even look back!”

They followed behind the Archerat, but Lute had the unfortunate luck to be the first one to break the desperate bidding. Lute’s eyes opened up as wide as they could as he caught eyes on the enormous white-furred Megabunny that was just now climbing over the wall of rocky terrain, sending pebbles down as pieces of it began to crumble apart.

The Megabunny's sights were directly on them.

An even larger roar was emitted behind the group as they ran as fast as they could, trying to find a quick escape.

“No, down that bridge over there! We can’t lead it back into the city!” Kara shouted as she led evenly beside Piercer with Lute not far behind. Knox was last in line to the bridge, the ground shaking underneath them as the stomps came closer and closer. They dared not look back again. 

It was only after their approach to the bridge that they noticed the raging water below it.

“We can make it, but we need to be fast!” Kara said, her feet hitting the ground as fast as she could muster. “Pick up the pace everyone! The gap will slow it down when we cross!”

The Mega-bunny roared once more, it’s black and beady eyes narrowed at the ones who awoke it. The tremors it’s footsteps made against the ground as it neared sent Knox down and sliding against the bridge just as everyone else was half-way.

“Knox!” Lute called out, cringing terrified at the sight of the Megabunny practically on top of them. “Knox, get up!”

Knox fought through the distortion of the trembling and looked up, the sight of a humongous Mega-bunny foot coming down right where he laid.

No time to think for him.

Kara, Lute and Piercer looked on in horror as Knox dove from the bridge and into the raging waters below just as the Megabunny’s foot came crashing down on the bridge, directly where he once was.

The force of the Mega bunny’s stomp sent the bridge into a broken mess just as the others cleared it, now safe on the other side. Kara looked on in a stump for what to do as Knox resurfaced from the tough currents of the water stream as it carried him further down.

He realized too late was his desperate move had cost him.

“Knox, it’s a waterfall! Swim out!” Piercer screamed at the top of his lungs to rival the loudness of the ravenous waters.

Knox turned to find himself edging towards a steep drop.

“No, no, no, no, not like this!” Knox yelled out as he tried in vain to swim for terra firma. The current was too strong for him.

Kara’s heart felt like it cracked when a scream emitted from Knox as he disappeared behind the waterfall’s end.

“ _Nooo!_ No, Knox!” Kara called out in a heart-wrenching voice. She ignored the Mega-bunny that was steadying itself from the tumble it made and ran to the edge upon dry land, looking over.

She breathed out the biggest exhale of her life.

A drenched Knox was getting to his feet, having landed on a building jutted out of the waterfall’s descending row of water not too far from where he fell.

“Thank god-” Kara was cut off by Knox’s quick thinking.

“I’m fine! Our luck is really being tested! But I can find a way to you! You see that radio tower over there? We’ll meet back up there, just lose the bunny first!” Knox shouted out through cupped hands around his mouth.

Knox awaited a reply and got one.

“You got it! Be careful!”

Another roar as the Mega-bunny finally found it’s footing and stepped out of the raging waters, following the group further and further away. Then all grew much quieter, save for the conscious flow of water that permeated his ears nonstop.

Knox took an extremely cautious peep down from the roof of the building that saved his life. He then immediately regretted the decision.

The human was met with almost three-hundred feet of a death that potentially awaited him. It was making him nauseous, so he pulled himself away from the weird draw of the height he was at. Sighing, he attempted to calm his involuntary shaking as he went to work. Looking up to where he fell, Knox found no vines or further method of getting himself any higher.

He quickly realized that going up was going to be a harder task then going down.

There were a few more structures that were broken off from other old, dilapidated buildings that proceeded further down. And if Knox were to be able to reach them, he would be half-way somewhere with his decent.

“Ah, this is crazy...” Knox muttered to himself as he pulled out the note he received from Devland. It was now drenched. Though somewhat still eligible, Knox went back over in his head the three items they all needed to retrieve that was on it. Just in case.

Knox eyed the window sill on the lower section just below and took in a deep breath. He began to lower himself down upon it, taking no time to over-think what we was about to do. After his foot made contact, he found himself glancing back at the roof of the nearby collapsed building which stood slanted right below.

He was going to have to jump and there was no room or margin for error.

“Okay...I got this.” Knox consoled to himself as he found his courage.

And then he pushed himself away from the ledge.

The rush that followed was almost like at Cactus Town.

Knox immediately rolled as his foot met the top of the building he aimed for but the impact was a lot rougher than he expected. The force of his fall sent his roll further towards the edge than he calculated, bringing him into a panic as his form tumbled closer it.

“Aww _crap!_ ” Knox yelled as he passed the edge, holding on to the corner of the building with one hand. His suspended form crashed against the side of the collapsed building as he was forced to look down below at the gathering of deep water the waterfall had produced. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. His grip on the side of the building was losing strength and before Knox knew it it, he unwillingly let go, his fingers exhausted of their strength.

Everything was a blurred as Knox flailed about, descending closer towards the large pool of water below.

His life flashed before him. Everything he had ever witnessed seemed to pass through his mind at light-speed.

_His youth._

_Kara._

_Lute._

_Piercer._

_His father._

Knox felt the force of the frigid waters as he torpedoed feet-first, now emerged in the waters.

Everything soon went hazy and faded to black.

* * *

A furred hand gripped the human’s wrist, the unknown form grunting as it pulled Knox out of the water. The human’s unconscious form was dragged across the soft sea of grass before being let go, leaving him safe on solid ground.

Knox began to blink weakly. His body ached all around.

Coughing out excess water, the human gradually lifted his head just in time to see a form rush hurriedly for the nearby forest of trees.

Although his vision still swam from the death-defying ordeal, Knox’s eyes were unmistakable in their assessment.

  
It was the form of a wolf.


	2. EP 2: Alone Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being rescued from a grim fate, Knox helps out another wolf mute in finding her way through a rough past as they both continue their own personal goals of bringing back something for those they love. The wolf reveals the heart-wrenching reason for trying to distance herself from him.

Hind-legs moved swiftly down the street with enraged calls echoing out as assailants tailed close behind.

Reaching a row of vehicles, the hyena mutes were held back for enough time as their target leaped from the pavement onto the top of the truck and met the other side with grace. The hyena mutes that were after her took a longer time climbing over them.

“Get back here! We’re gonna make you bleed when we...”

The voices trailed off as the figure moved further and further away from the city and into the nearby park.

The wolf looked back to find that she was in the clear and setting her wooden staff down, desperately unstrapped the sack. Digging through, she found a few apples and oranges along with a strange gray device she couldn’t quite name.

“It’s not enough...” the wolf said to herself, sighing and stroking a hand across her head frustratingly.

One of her ears twitched.

“You forget about us?”

The wolf thief stood as fast as she could with wooden staff in hand, but was tackled to the ground the minute she was ready to flee. The hyena mute that was hidden behind the nearby tree restrained her and planted her face against the grass as she growled in response, squirming to get free.

“I see you got her! Fast one, she is.” a voice called out which belonged to one of her previous pursuers out as they neared.

The thief wolf managed to roll her eyes up far enough to lay her sights upon the group of hyena mutes in front of her. There were now a total of four, all grinning. One pulled out a knife and held it against her neck.

“You expecting me to beg?” the thief laughed, spitting the grass and dirt out of her mouth.

“No, but we _are_ going to tie you up...”

It took the wolf all of her restraint to refrain from pulling away as the hyena mute tied her wrists together from behind. The knife they had inches from her was enough of a reason not to.

“Now, answer us, wolf lady. Both where you came from and why you stole our stuff and we might make your death a swift on-oww!”

The hyena recoiled from the rock that made contact with the back of his cranium and made him drop the knife. The hyenas all looked to the source of the throw to find an unwelcome sight.

A human in a dark blue denim jacket stepped off of the concrete bench and began slowly walking towards the commotion.

“You folks really didn’t hear me coming? Geez, you all must be pretty slow today...” the human taunted as he gripped the hilt of the blade strapped around his shoulders. He motioned a hand to draw it but suddenly brought it away.

“Heh, you have some gall to just up and show your face at a time like this, especially being a human. Got a death wish, punk?” one of the hyena mutes retorted back, his jaws drooling greedily at the prospect of a free lunch.

“How bout’ you all come over here and find out?”

The daring reply was met with angry snarls and the pack of hyenas came at him one by one. The human grinned, cracking his knuckles.

A couple of seconds later and...

The last remaining hyena felt hard against the ground as the human’s fist met deep into it’s stomach with a follow-up across it’s jaw.

He stepped over the jumbled forms of the unconscious mutes, shaking his sore hand out.

“Threw that one a little _too_ hard...” the human remarked as he walked over to the tied-up wolf.

The human finally had a decent chance to observe the wolf mute in distress now that the threat was done with.

The wolf had a blueish-grey colored fur mixed with white. She wore a black pencil skirt and a pink jacket over a collared black shirt to match. Her pink eyes store directly into his own, failing to blink once.

“C’mon. Let’s get further away from these guys. They won’t be out for long.” the human told the wolf.

“The name’s Knox by the way.” the human revealed, picking up her wooden staff and smiling at the face of a wolf who held no readable expression.

The her eyes never once left the human.

Knox helped the her up to her feet and guided her out of the park. He went back towards the streets and stopped.

The human then revealed a knife of his own. This earned him a growl. The human paused and looked up to find the wolf showing off rows of her dangerous teeth on full display.

“Easy, I’m just cutting you lose. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you, alright?” Knox commented lightly, nervously chuckling before working on the rope that binded the wolf’s wrists together.

The second the rope snapped, the free wolf turned and rushed Knox, pinning him to the ground.

The maw of the growling wolf was inches from being around Knox’s neck. Her two hands gripped the human’s wrist as she kept him from escaping.

“The hell are you doing, I just saved you!” Knox shouted as a quick snarl sent his head reeling to one side.

“You apparently don’t know much about how the surface works for someone who was able to defend himself well enough back there.” the she-wolf spoke as she finally broke her silence with him. 

After a few seconds of eye contact with Knox, her griped loosened a bit. She trailed her sight downwards and clenched her eyes closed.

“Just go. I don’t have any grudges against you.” the wolf mute told Knox as she removed her hold on the human completely. She picked up her staff and just as she turned to walk away, she paused at the words that followed.

“You’re the wolf that saved me back in the water.”

The wolf mute looked back slightly, refusing to make eye contact with Knox.

“Don’t know what you’re-”

“Don’t lie to me. It was you.” Knox pressed. He got up to his feet. “You pulled me out of the water back by the waterfall...I mean your fur’s still not even dry. You...saved my life. Thank you.”

A small laugh emitted from the wolf.

“Is that why you saved me? To return the favor?”

“So you admitting you _did_ save me, huh?” Knox narrowed his eyes and grinned self-satisfied, resting his knuckles against his waist. “I would have helped you either way.” Knox clarified. “Those hyenas we’re clearly trouble. By the looks of things, you were desperate.”

The wolf mute turned around, baring her pink eyes at Knox again. 

“I’m out here for my _children_. I had to do what I had to do.”

“Figured it was something like that.” Knox said, sighing as he eyed a tall building not too far away. “I’m out here because of some stupid task I have to-”

“Listen, human...I’m not here to chat. I’m out here to get more supplies. More food. You saved me. Now you’re free to go.”

Knox pointed to the large building with overgrown roots snaking out of it’s windows just ahead, countering her last words.

“I need to look for some things, too. And by the way your looking towards the mall over there, I’d say we have the same destination.” Knox began to take slow steps towards the building. “Maybe we can even watch each other’s backs on this?”

He spun around on a heel to face her.

“Mind giving me a name I can properly address you by?”

The mute wolf gritted her teeth in a nagging irritation to the human’s persistence.

  
“It’s Cecilia.”

* * *

Knox and Cecilia were soon met with the open parking lot of the building in interest. Cecilia tapped a foot behind Knox as he tried the double doors and found them locked.

“Well at least we know no one’s been here in a very long while.” Knox assessed, kicking in the glass to one of the doors and chipping away the excess fragments still attached to it.

“Or maybe someone locked themselves inside...” Cecilia added, narrowing her eyes at the human’s brashness.

“Whoops..sorry.” Knox apologized, entering in through the newly made opening.

He glanced around at the enormous space within with the sun’s light cycling through the glass ceiling above as clouds passed in front of it. Knox eyed the numerous stores of the first floor before laying eyes on the malfunctioned escalators that lead to the second floor.

“We shoul-”

“You should check wherever you’re going to check. I’m not your friend nor am I your ally. I’m just here. Leave me to my business.” Cecilia cut in, walking towards and through the doors of a store to her right.

Knox observed the different stores on his side before scanning Cecilia’s. He noticed the faded store title above the doorway.

“Antiques Of Time...” Knox smiled in interest as he followed behind the mute wolf.

Cecelia passive-aggressively set down the staff in her hand and turned towards the human as he sped through the store entrance. He looked around at all of the different figure and doll assortments as Cecilia sighed audibly.

“I thought I made it clear I don’t like being followed?” Cecilia shot back at him.

“Yes!” Knox rang out in victory, opening the large glass compartment that held what he was looking for. He held up the wooden figurine of a man riding a horse up to Cecilia. “This is one of the items I’ve been tasked with finding. Just two more...”

“So you’re on a treasure hunt in the middle of a, might a remind you, _particularly dangerous_ part of Las Vistas were humans are well-known for being majorly hunted? That it? Where are your parents, kid?” Cecilia snided through half-lidded eyes.

“No, you’ve got it all wrong. Well, kinda. There’s a place not far from here. Both mutes and humans live together there. And I know it’s crazy, but here me out: we have to find three items of the community leader’s choice before we can be granted entry. To see if we're resourceful enough to be worth emission, or whatever. Kind of stupid, but what can you do?” Knox said, looking to the wolf after he momentarily turned away.

He watched Cecilia cross her arms.

“Yeah, mutes and humans living together _is_ kinda crazy. But I didn’t fall down that waterfall for a little swim. I’m with another group and we were doing what I’m doing now. Just gotta get back to them...but this place may have more of what we need.”

Knox bagged the wooden figure and walked out of the store.

“And I’m not a kid...I’m twenty two.” Knox disclosed, popping his head back out of sight.

Cecilia drew her eyes back to the human doll she now had in her hands and lowered them, tossing the plaything back into the pile.

* * *

“Just what I needed...” Knox whispered to himself as he spotted a clothing store up on the second floor.

He stepped on the first step of the frozen escalators and waved Cecilia over.

“I’m still soaked from that unwanted dive. And I can only guess that your not exactly the driest either after pulling me out. It looks to be a store for the both of us, so if you want...”

Cecilia didn’t say anything as Knox comically jabbed his two pointer fingers at the store above, but she did walk up the elevator with him.

Once inside, Knox almost immediately spotted was he was looking for. A blue borg collared denim jacket met his fancy as he approached, swiping off the layer of dust that accumulated over it.

“Perfect start.” Knox said to himself. He noticed Cecilia walk past over to a rack of more high-end looking clothing.

“Say,” Knox began. “You always been the formal type? I mean, you have to be from some other community if you’re more focused on looks than...maybe I’m talking too much.”

“No, I know what you mean. It’s just...what I’m used to. I think it’s the right look for me.” Cecilia responded. She gripped the lining of her wet, pink jacket. “I saw it in a magazine, and it just stuck with me since. I have like, five of this same look back home, ha ha...” 

“Well,” Knox said as he picked out a black shirt. “If you’re able to chose, I say wear whatever you know truly fits you and not just what you think.”

Knox disappeared into the fitting room close by as Cecilia pondered upon the human’s words.

The mute wolf observed her reflection in the mirror next to her. She gripped the collar of her old shirt and began to change. Taking her pearl necklace off, she began her transformation. She was satisfied with her new look as she smiled proudly to herself.

Cecilia lifted the pearl necklace to put back around her neck but stopped. She remembered what the human said to her.

Retracting her action, she held the necklace loosely in her hands, giving it a long look before she pulled it apart, sending the pink pearls rolling all about on the store floor.

A few pink pearls rolled into Knox’s fitting room which prompted him to carefully peer out of his fitting room to make sure not to be rude. “Um, you good?”

“Yes.”

Knox emerged out of the changing booth and caught vision of Cecilia’s new look. She kept a similar look of her skirt and undershirt but had replaced her pink jacket with a cobalt blue pea jacket. Around her neck where her pink pearl necklace used to reside was a sky blue scarf that wrapped fully around her neck as the ends dropped down to her chest.

“I think I’ll keep the pencil skirt look. I know it fits me.” Cecilia told him, admiring her new look in the mirror.

“Funny enough, I didn’t even like pink all that much.” she admitted with a simper grin.

* * *

  
After about half an hour, they had found nothing else of further interest to them. Finding the wooden figurine was exactly what Knox _didn’t_ expect to find. He got lucky with this one.

He held a now-unlocked double-door out for Cecilia as they left.

“Thank you.” Cecilia replied to the gesture, showing appreciation.

As they cleared the parking lot, they stopped on the road they first spotted the mall on. 

Knox eyed the sun in the sky and looked roughly down towards where he came from before. The big radio tower was still within view.

“Well, I guess this is goodbye. I appreciate you giving me a bit of peace. Things have been pretty rough lately. Thank you Cecilia...take care.” Knox told the mute wolf as he slowly turned away.

  
“Knox, I need to tell you something. I can’t...I _can’t_ hold this in anymore.”

  
Cecilia’s beckoning for his attention made the human turn back around in interest. He stepped back over to the wolf, awaiting the words that were to come.

Cecilia gripped the backpack straps on her shoulders tightly before letting her arms flail to her sides. She looked away from the human, trailing her eyes up to the cloudy skies above.

“There was another human with me before...a child. This was five years ago. We had found her right after her own parents were murdered by other humans. We...saw it happen; me and my husband. And we found her and took her in. We trained her to survive.”

Cecilia’s shoulders dropped low and her eyes did the same.

“But we didn’t do it for her...we didn’t do it out of pity. We did it because we had a chance to use her...a-as _prey_. And my husband died because of this. We trained her, taught her how to take care of herself and we eventually went along with having our own children hunt her down...”

At this point, the mute wolf’s eyes were beginning to tear up.

“I put my children in danger because of old traditional instincts and customs...because of what happened to us before. I tried to dress like I was on top of everything...like I could be better than the humans that tried to kill us before were. So ironic...I was so focused on my image and trauma instead of nurturing the child to be more than what happened to her own guardians. And I lost my husband because of it!” Cecilia continued, wailing the words aloud as she buried her head in her hands.

“Because of _meee!_ ”

Knox checked around the both of them to make sure her crying wasn’t attracting any unwanted attention. He placed a hand on Cecilia’s shoulder and asked her the tough questions.

“Whoa, slow down there. What happened? Why we're you hunting a _child_? Did you just think that-"

“Alphonso.” Cecilia interrupted through the tears. “My husband's name was Alphonso. I loved him dearly...and the human child we took in...after we betrayed her trust, she killed him in self-defense. I chased after her and then she bested me...but she also spared me. I never saw her again...”

Cecilia wiped some of the built-up liquid from her eyes and gave Knox a lopsided smile. “And you know what my husband said to her before he died?”

Knox looked on at her with some empathy.

“What did he say?”

“That he was _sorry_.”

“And now your spending whatever time you can trying to make things right...am I correct?” Knox stepped in front of Cecilia to look deep into the mute wolf’s watery, magenta-colored eyes.

“Y-yes...”

“Is that one of the reasons you saved me?” Knox questioned secondly.

“Yes...”

Knox continued to gaze into her saddened eyes before finally giving her a warm smile.

“Then you’re already halfway there.”

Cecilia ran a hand through the fur of her head, obviously thinking about conflicting ideas on the matter.

“Cecilia, I can tell you’ve been hurting for a long time. I’ve been trying to ignore it, but the way you’ve been avoiding eye contact with me after you tackled me earlier...I think I understand. Trying to grow from something like that isn’t easy...” the human tried to assure her, trailing his eyes off to the side.

“Do you know why I’m telling you any of this?” Cecilia asked him as he met her eyes with a new assumption present. 

“You need to let these kind of things out. There’s nothing wrong with that. Trust me, I know.” Knox told her.

“No...not just that, Knox.” Cecilia replied, a sudden smile appearing on her face.

Cecilia began to wipe away the rest of the tears that had now calmed in intensity. She came closer to slowly wrap her arms around Knox, pulling him into a friendly hug which caught him by surprise.

“It’s because you remind me of her.” Cecilia revealed.

The wolf sniffed as she pulled out of the hug and rubbed her eyes, now calm and adjusted. “Thanks for listening to me...I hope I didn’t...change your opinion of me. I-I’m trying to learn from my mistakes.”

Knox almost immediately felt at his neck, gripping the black thread that held the necklace he purposefully hid away.

“Since you’ve told me something personal of yours...I have something I need to share with you. It’s only fair.” Knox said, pulling out the necklace of a wolf’s tooth as he held it out bravely to Cecilia.

“When I was about ten years old, our burrow got attacked. Attacked by two-headed flamingos and...some kind of giant mute. I can’t even fully remember much else, but I lost my parents in the confusion and I haven’t seen em’ since...”

Cecilia eyed the wolf tooth curiously and sat down on the curb, patting the sidewalk.

“Sit. I’m here to listen.”

Knox joined next to Cecilia as he proceeded.

“I escaped with my friend’s brother and two other adult humans. We made it for a few miles and stopped at a store to search for anything to help us...we were practically defenseless out on the surface...then...we we’re ambushed.” Knox stopped and rubbed his forehead, leaning his eyes down to the ground.

“By who?” Cecilia pressed, her eyes filled with concern.

Knox chose to hold nothing back.

“By other wolves.” 

Cecilia’s eyes widened and brung them in front of her to look out further into the distance.

“Oh.”

“They killed the two adults that saved us. Right in front of us. I was so enraged...I don’t even remember how it happened, but I killed everyone but the pack leader. I slashed his one good eye with this same sword...” Knox emphasized the katana strapped around him. “And then I bashed his teeth in and took one of them as a reminder of what I was capable of doing...so that I didn’t have to fear what was against me...”

Cecilia continued her gaze away from Knox.

“You did what you had to do, Knox. Don’t hold it against yourself.” Cecilia replied, wrapping an arm around Knox’s shoulder. “You don’t need to blame yourself for other people's cruelty. You were defending yourself...I know it's scarred you..."

Knox took in a deep breath. “I’m telling you a part of my own past to let you know that the past doesn’t _have_ to keep hold over our futures...cause despite all of that, I’m still here with another wolf... _willingly_.”

The human watched as Cecilia nodded and gripped the wooden staff on the ground. She held it up in her hands.

“I’ll never make up for what I did to that poor kid...but I’m going to keep trying no matter what. I just didn’t want to end up hurting another human like that again. It’s why I was so adamant on avoiding you. When I saw you fall into the water...I just had to help.” Cecilia smiled bittersweetly at the human next to her. “I’ll happily lay down my life for that human child if I had another chance. But it’s probably best we never cross paths again. I don’t deserve someone like her. I just hope she’s still out there doing more than just... _surviving_...”

Cecilia looked directly into Knox’s eyes.

“Her name was...Jolene.”

Knox let the word swim around for a bit, but he found no one he knew of that name. He got up and reached inside his backpack. Ripping a page from his notebook, he pulled out a pen and began jotting something down. He gave Cecilia the piece of paper, her eyes going over the written contents. It held directions to a place she wasn't familiar with.

“The community I was talking about earlier...it’s called Lensvile.” Knox began. “But I don’t know if they’ll simply let you in, even if you brung your children with you. Guy seemed pretty full of himself, but still...if you have no where else to go...if you feel you aren’t safe where you are now...I’d advise checking it out. If your interested, of course. We’re sure to be there soon. I promise you that much.”

Knox squeezed his fingers.

“Listen, Cecilia.”

The mute wolf’s magenta eyes locked with the human’s.

“It’s not supposed to be easy.” Knox said. “If it is, then there’s definitely something wrong. I know not everyone will forgive you...but at the end of the day, it’s not about them. It’s about you.”

Knox finally turned away, gripping the strap of his backpack.

“Its not in my place to forgive you, either. But if you have a choice to make a change...do it. Start over, Cecilia. No one’s gone until they’re gone.” Knox finalized.

Their paths grew further and further apart with every step they took.

And as Cecilia glanced back, she looked to the piece of paper in her hand before folding it and putting it away. Wooden staff in hand, she glanced back behind her one last time before continuing back for home.

  
Then she smiled to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending song: [Fink - Looking Too Closely](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfxf0iq9zuQ&list=PLLp4cRg5S-EjWb2Um4iXwuM952FCe3bZ7&index=39)
> 
> If it wasn't already clear enough, yes the wolf mute Cecilia is indeed the Alpha Mom. Since this story takes a different path to the canon, I'd advise reading these side-fics of mine to better understand how she's still alive in this universe:
> 
> [The Wolf](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23470141/chapters/56267365)  
> [Haunted](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25145521)


	3. EP 3: The Chase

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara, Piercer and Lute are thrown off their path to meet up with Knox by familiar faces. Mute faces, that is. They try their best to make a quick escape.

  
The last bit of illumination the falling sun gave off had depleted as it made full way past the horizon.

Night was now upon the city of Las Vistas.

  
So Kara, Lute and Piercer took hideout in a nearby dilapidated office building, waiting out for the darkness for their second chance at going back after their separated friend. They had gotten some sleep before they planned to head back out in route for the aforementioned radio tower Knox had told them to get to. That’s where he was supposed to be. They had little time to screw around.

Piercer stood posed against a work desk as he worked on sharpening the wooden sticks he brought with him. His dagger ran slick across the sides, edging them into his liking. A trash can held the freshly made fire that illuminated enough visibility.

“Are you sure having fire in a trashcan is the safest for us inside of a building?” Lute asked as Kara poked at the flames with a stick.

“Um, yeah. It’s in a trashcan. We’re fine...as long as we don’t knock it over...or pour gasoline everywhere...or-”

“Okay, okay. I get it.” Lute told her, plucking out a quickly melody with his accompanying lute. 

Kara smiled absentmindedly before looking up to the Archerat who had occupied himself with crafting his archery arrows. He was turned away from them. Something that had added to the quiet suspicion Kara had on her mind the whole day after they were separated from Knox. He was... _off_ to her.

“Hey, Piercer?”

Piercer stopped his carving, knife held frozen in his recent attempt at swiping downwards. His hand tensed up it’s grip on the dagger, but it eventually fell to the side as he gradually turned towards the human’s call.

“...Yes?”

Kara gripped her knees as she sat, giving Piercer a subtle smile.

“You okay? You’ve been a bit...distant lately. I mean, more than I’ve ever seen you. I’m just...if there’s anything you want to talk about, We’re all ears. We’re you're friends now, remember?”

Piercer squeezed the handle of his dagger again. He pushed himself off of the desk and stepped over to the two humans and sighed, gripping the side of his forehead with his pink hands.

“I...I...”

Piercer drew in a bigger breath of air before continuing.

“I...when we were back at that place...where the Megabunny attacked us? That...it was my fault.” Piercer admitted, eyes aimed low.

Kara got up and looked at the rat mute in confusion. “What do you mean by that?”

“While you were all in that building, I started throwing rocks out of boredom....then frustration. Bad memories came up, and I kept chucking them harder and farther. Eventually...one of them went far over and hit the Megabunny hidden behind the nearby rocky hill. I caused all of this mess...” Piercer revealed as he moved to the wall by the windows and banged his head lightly against it.

“I’m sorry...Knox is out there all alone because of _me_...” Piercer continued to roughly tap his head over and over against the wall.

Kara narrowed her eyes, walking over to the self-degrading rat mute. He caught eye of her just as she brung her arms around him. She pulled her face back and looked him directly in the eye, sporting a empathetic smile.

“You probably already know this, but back before we all met you, I split from Knox and Lute to better our chances at escaping the Mod Frogs and Humming Bombers that hounded us. It was a well-intended decision...but it still held consequences as you already know. It led to everything else that followed.” Kara rested her hands on Piercer’s shoulders. “Things happen. It’s _fine_. Don’t put that kind of weight on yourself for something you had no real control over. We’ll find Knox, and we’ll all get in that community together, alright?”

“People...err, mutes make mistakes just like anyone else. It’s alright, Piercer. We’ll be okay.” Lute assured him, playing a C chord on his lute instrument. “We’ll find Knox before the third day and we’ll be back on track again.”

Piercer cycled his sight at the two and smiled. “Alright.”

“Now,” Kara crouched down and tapped the burning trash can. “How are we going to get back down without tripping over ourselves again?”

“Um...me? I can see in the dark, remember?” Piercer pointed out. “That’s how we got up here in the first place?”

Kara narrowed her eyes. “Right...never mind the fact that I tripped, like, four times.”

* * *

  
Piercer gazed at the stars that shone above in a splendor of glory as they walked along the street. The absence of light in the city made for a rather easy viewing of the cosmos above them. The Archerat continued his absentminded gaze at the night sky as Kara and Lute went over a few calculations.

  
“Okay, so we have one more day after this night before our time is up on delivering the goods to Devland. It’ll take us about a couple hours to reach the radio tower where we’ll meet Knox.” Kara said, tapping a finger against the palm of her hand. “We should be back on track just before the middle of the day. I’m just hoping he’s had better luck than us. Completing scavenging tasks for a place to live while looking for your best friend at the same time is a lot more stressful than I’d thought it be.”

The three passed by a few buildings with gaps in them. 

“Yeah, but shouldn’t we look around just a bit more? I mean, we know Knox. He can definitely take care of himself. We run the risk of missing one of the listed items for us to find if we just skip this area and go straight-”

“Halt right there, _humans!_ ”

Kara and her two companion shifted their gaze around until they pinpointed the source of the call. The voice originated from on top of a hotel inn just beside them.

On it’s roof stood a proud shape silhouetted by the light of the moon. It stood with it’s hands against it’s waist and a faintly apparent grin wide on it’s face.

“I’d be in your best interest to cooperate, so no one dirties their attire in a needless bout! Isn’t that a great trade off?”

“Who the hell are you?” Piercer hissed out, gripping his bow at the ready.

“I'm a _Mod Frog_ , of course!” the form replied out in an overly joyous tone. The figure gave up it’s anonymity as it leaped from the building and met with a front-flip to the ground not far in front of them. “We’ve met before...” the Mod Frog claimed as the light revealed his form.

“You’re that damned frog that was with Mrs. Sartori! What do you want with us now? If you wanted to catch us, you should’ve done so then.” Kara reached for her buck knife and brandished it within view. 

“It’s Jamack. Not “ _damned frog_ ”. Geez, have some respect...” Jamack told her with narrowed eyes as he straightened his neck tie.

“I’ll show you _respect!_ ” Kara growled as she stomped towards him with her knife pointed forward.

Lute gripped her arm and held her back. “No, we need to get out of here. Now. We don’t have time for this.”

“Oh, you’re all not going anywhere.” Jamack retorted calmly, his vision leaving his uneven tie.

Before anyone could protest, the roaring of an engine revved through the street. A black car pulled out of the alleyway between two buildings and stopped front and center in the street ahead of them. Kara, Lute and Piercer all grew intensively dreaded as three more Mod Frogs exited the car and slammed the doors closed.

A thin frog along with a much broader one walked up first followed by the third.

“Ah. Harris, Kwat, Brody. Nice of you to finally join me. Now...shall we get to business?”

Kara switched sights between the approaching Mod Frogs and Jamack as she and her group pondered what to do next. 

“Were you all-”

“Trailing you?” Jamack interrupted Kara, observing the non-existent fingernails on one of his hands. “Heh, we were trailing you since after the Megabunny problem you all had. I’d say that whole mess was incentive enough for investigation. Those things don’t go on rampages for absolutely no reason...and my hunch was right.”

Harris, Kwat, and Brody were just starting to circle around the group with weapons in hand. Piercer wasn’t going to let them have that advantage. Piercer raised his bow and shot an arrow straight past Brody, the sharp end leaving a cut against his cheek. The action caused the three two step back.

“Arrows beat bats and melee objects any day as long as the aim is good. And I’m all for some more practice.” Piercer taunted, glaring at his adversaries. “So...unless you want to look like a discount porcupine I suggest you and your frogs back off.” Piercer emphasized his point by bringing his second arrow up at Jamack’s forehead.

But Jamack just smiled back.

“You only have two left. And there’s four of us. Best use them wisely. I imagine it takes precious minutes to craft them. Minutes you all don’t have.” Jamack took a step forward, which caused Piercer’s pull on the bowstring to further.

Kara twirled the buck knife in between her fingers. “You’re talking like we aren’t in play.” She tried her best to keep her sights on the three other Mod Frogs. But she found it hard, now that they were forming a wider circle around them all.

Piercer’s ears twitched. His eyes slid to his right.

He heard the whizzing of something coming towards him from beside him and his instincts went to work immediately, a gloved hand gripping the wet tongue that had shot out from Brody’s mouth. The Mod Frog realized his mistake too late. Piercer solidified his hold on Brody’s tongue with his second hand and swung his body using the momentum.

Jamack was the only one who apparently played jump rope.

The Mod Frog leader watched as Harris and Kwat both tripped over the tongue as it swiped by. Piercer then let go, sending Brody crashing straight through the window of the hotel inn behind Jamack.

Despite the failure of his colleagues, Jamack hadn’t lost his focus and shot his own tongue at the now-fleeing group. It just barely shy of Kara, but it’s length retracted after it went as far as it could.

“Dammit...get yourselves together, you three! We’re not letting them slip away. I’m certainly not!” Jamack leaped up on the roof of a building and began pursuing just ahead of his companions.

  
Kara, Piercer and Lute ran as fast as they could, cutting past a nearby alleyway. They heard the revving of a familiar car engine from behind and knew their time truly was limited. They needed to lose their pursuers fast.

“There! Bikes are our lucky ticket for the day!” Lute alerted his friends as he pointed out the two bikes by a nearby coffee shop they were approaching by.

They stopped just ahead of them and worked at the overgrown vines entangled within them.

“This one’s no good. Wheels are deflated...here, Lute, ride on the pegs of mine. Only other option.” Kara told him as she looked worriedly to the Archerat. “So, you know how to ride a bike?” she asked him with sprinkle of humor.

“I’m gonna find out soon.” he replied, finally freeing the bike from it’s viney entanglement.

Piercer got on and went a few peddles before falling over. Kara and Lute looked at him in apprehension as the lights from what was definitely a vehicle began to grow brighter from around the corner they came. The Mod Frogs were gaining on them.

Piercer tried again and failed, collapsing onto the ground with the bike.

“Oh my god, this is going to be the most anticlimactic build up to getting caught I’ve ever conceived...” Lute mumbled under his breath.

“I heard that,” Piercer said, finally getting some traction and stopping just before he fell again. “I think I-”

Piercer stopped and looked up to find Jamack running up and leaping from building to building, closing the gap between him and them by every second.

“You know, I think I just learned how to ride a bike!” Piercer exclaimed, hurriedly pushing himself forward and pedaling down the street. Kara and Lute unquestionably followed suit.

In a matter of minutes, the group had turned so may different corners they were sure they could have left Las Vistas by now. In other words, they were definitely lost. Piercer then caught sound of something approaching behind. And it was a worryingly familiar sound.

“I think they found us again...” Piercer told them as light once again came into view behind them.

They were on a long stretch of road and their was no where else to directly turn without stopping completely or going off the road into nearby bushes. Both options they had no time to pull off without getting caught. The lights only grew closer and closer.

“Keep pedaling, we can still find some way out of this!” Lute proclaimed as Kara zipped down the pavement road with Piercer close by.

Their efforts were fruitless in the end. The lights of the speeding vehicle had finally caught up to them, swerving to the side to meet evenly beside them. It was only then that they realized it wasn’t a black car...it was a gray van. The driver rolled down the power window and winked at them. It was a rat mute of both black and white colored-fur. A green baseball hat was worn on it’s head and a green vest to accompany it.

“Hey, need a lift?” the rat mute offered with a wide smile.

Kara, Lute and Piercer looked sideways to the van that evened their speed, all in incredulous disbelief.

“What?” Lute replied, still confused.

“She said,” another voice replied from inside the van, sliding the back door open to reveal the source. ”Do you need a lift?” another rat mute finished. This one was fully black-furred and wore a matching colored hat and vest.

“We don’t believe two humans and a mute would be pedaling this fast along a roadway unless they were being chased.” the black and white mute rat spoke, leaning an arm out of the window. “We can definitely help you. If you take a chance to trust us of course.”

Kara looked among the unsure looks of Piercer and Lute and nodded to them. “We’ll take your offer. This better not be some trick...” she replied, squeezing down on her brakes.

They all came to a stop and ditched the bikes, making sure to roll them off the road to help throw off their tracks. Now inside the van, the vehicle started up and they were off again.

The strapped themselves in and immediately began asking questions.

“Where are we going, exactly?”

“What are you’re names?”

“Why is cheese hanging from the ceiling?”

“All excellent questions!” the mute rat driver exclaimed, readjusting her mirror to fix her gaze on the new guests.

“We’ll start with the second one. My names Amy. And my fellow here is Brad.” the rat driver revealed, tipping her hat.

“And where we’re going?” Brad left his words up in the air for dramatic suspense.

“...Well it’s definitely safe for humans and mutes. But...we can’t tell you just yet. Might ruin the magic. Just hold on tight!”

The van picked up speed as it moved along the path into uncharted places to the group.

* * *

  
“Stop the car, Harris.”

Jamack swung the passenger door open and stepped outside, taking a quick gander around him. He soon found himself along the ditch that lined the road, keeling down and squinting through the darkness. Unidentifiable shapes became clear as the Mod Frog stumbled upon two abandoned bikes.

“Hm.” Jamack looked to his colleagues and waved to them. “Keep the car running.”

Jamack eyed the light pole beside him and jumped towards it, using his tongue to wrap around it and land with poise on the top. 

“Find somethin’ yet?” Harris shouted out from the car, leaning out of the window.

“Give me a minute...” Jamack replied under his breath, not bothering to fully vocalize.

Searching farther down the road wasn’t a problem for them anymore. By his luck he caught sights on the lights of a vehicle that had just turned west of them.

A grin crossed his face.  
  
Leaping down from the pole, he landed and power-walked back to the car.

“Keep down the road and make the second turn to the left. I’ve got a hunch, alright.”

The black car launched itself down the road and followed the instructed path.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending song: [Anderson Paak - The Chase](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEQlFNF8bQs)


	4. EP 4: Ratland...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara and the gang discover Ratland and something else discovers them in return. Piercer makes a split-decision fueled from his past trauma.

And what a wonderful, magical surprise it was.

  
Two rows of various game prize tents accompanied both sides of the straight path further inside.

Fireworks continued their occasional display up into the night sky from further inside the large area.

Amy and Brad tried but failed to hold in their excited giggling as they observed Kara, Lute and Piercer’s awed expressions at the spectacle now in front of them. The van skidded to a stop and the two matching mute rats hurried their doors open and leapt out, sliding the back doors out for their passengers. Although the chivalry was taken kindly, Kara and her group’s sights never left the large statue of a mute rat and it’s child led beside it that was front and center at the entrance.

“No. Effin’. Way.”

Lute’s words slipped past Kara and Piercer as they gazed at the spectacular sight upon them through the windows of the van.

“Uh, yes effin’ way. Welcome...to...” Brad continued, winding up his hands before Amy jumped in front of him.

“Le’ Rat _Terre_!” Amy finished, emphasizing the wondrous amusement park behind them with expressive jazz hands and an exaggerated foreign tone. “But we normally just call it Ratland.”

Kara was the first to get out, leaning against the van for both emotional and support.

“Is...is this real? I have a feeling this isn’t real.” Kara told herself as she poked a finger at the palm of her hand, half-expecting it to phase straight through. This earned her a chuckle from Brad.

“I assure all of you, this is all. in fact, very, very real. Like, _really_ real.” Brad told Kara, walking up to her and poking her shoulder.

Piercer looked at the two green-vested mute rats and “You built all of this yourself? It’s...huge.”

“Well...” Brad started. “We took what was left of the old world’s amusement wreckage and spun it into something new. Brad took his park hat off and waved it to Amy. “But none of this would have been possible without my best friend. She worked most of the placement and mapping ideas!”

“Awww stop it, Brad...this was definitely all of us. Equally. Well...okay it was kinda me a little more. Just a tad bit.” Amy joked, turning pink eyes towards the new group of visitors. “Well? What are we all waiting for? Let us give you three a good ol’ tour of the place. Maybe you’ll see some familiar faces?”

Piercer turned to Lute and Kara before double-taking at the amusement owners.

“Gives us a quick minute.” he told Amy and Brad, pushing Lute and Kara off behind the van, much to their opposition. He looked both of them in the eyes and then gripped his head fur. “Should we really be wasting time having fun at a time like this? Knox is still out there, waiting. We can’t really afford the time to waste time...”

Kara and Lute looked to each other, the point being fully understood. Kara steeped forward and rested her hands on Piercer’s shoulders.

“Okay, how about this? We stay and check around, but we don’t stay for more than an hour. We could find what we’re searching for here. Or maybe more supplies. We’re running pretty low. Then after that, were done. Well say thanks and make way back towards the radio tower. Sound fair?” Kara awaited Piercer’s unreadable expression before he wordlessly nodded.

“Awesome. Don’t worry, Piercer. Trust me, I wanna see that katana-wielding knucklehead just as much as you do.”

Piercer scoffed, folding his arms and looking up at the large Ferris wheel that protruded through the many other attractions. “It’s not like I miss him...I just want to make up for my stupid Megabunny-summoning mistake.”

The three reappeared from behind the van and Kara and Lute gave two big thumbs up to Amy and Brad.

“Alright then. Shall we start the tour now?” Amy offered, straightening her park vest.

* * *

  


There were more mutes and humans together than the group initially thought they’re would be. mute snakes and Timbercats walked by each others sides like they were naturally born brothers and sisters. A group of squirrels joked and laughed with a few humans as they battled it out in a game booth. A human couple walked around them as the two mutes passed by. Kara blinked at the sights. It was all so foreign. After being on the run for so long, she almost forgot what it felt like. To slow down and just _relax_. And _talk_.

Brad and Amy were well aware of their over-whelming need to experience their creation.

“You can...go ahead anytime you all want. We’re not holding you back.” Amy told them.

“Enjoy your stay, regardless of how long you intend to!” Brad added.

Piercer was suddenly jerked forth as Kara gripped his hand and charged through the entrance with him. Lute wasn’t far behind.

  
Kara left Piercer to grip his wrist as she let go and turned the corner after the human couple, leaving him and Lute to themselves.

“Well we-” Lute stopped before he could truly begin, eying the target booth just right of them. He wasn’t exactly drawn to the game itself, but the prizes hung across inside the booth. His eyes scanned it carefully. Then the unbelievable expression of luck grew on his face.

“No way...” Lute said to himself as he left Piercer’s side to double-check. He stopped at the counter, his suspicions confirmed.

Among the collection of assortments was exactly what they were looking for. A pocket watch to add to Devland’s list of items for entry into their community.

* * *

  


Kara was glad she paused ahead of time. Nearly bumping straight into the the pair of humans, her rushed attempt at stopping easily caught their attention. The two humans turned towards Kara and the first thing they caught note of was her extremely wide smile.

“Hi.”

The two humans blinked at Kara’s simplicity and smiled nervously.

The women gripped her sleeve. “H-hey. You new here? Never seen you before.”

“Yeah,” Kara put herself back together. “Sorry...it’s been a very long while since...I’ve really got the chance to talk to any humans in a long time. Besides my close friends.”

The man stepped forth with a hand outstretched. A more affable face grew on him. “It’s fine, really! We came from a pretty small hideout so we understand the feeling. We actually ventured out here to scout for our people and see if this place was legit...and it was.”

“That’s great.”

There was a small awkward pause between Kara and the two humans before the woman stepped forward.

“My names Elsie and this is David. Nice to meet you...?”

“Kara.” she responded. “My name is Kara. And it’s been a long, _long_ couple of weeks.”

* * *

  


“You’re kidding?” Lute said as he watched Piercer rush to take off his backpack.

“Nope! There’s a working generator powered by some eels that makes washing machines work just as good as our van! On most days...” Brad confirmed, lowering his eyes at an old memory lost to them.

“Eels?” Lute said, catching the oddity. “Are there like...gigantic mute eels with muscles turning a crank twenty-four-seven?” he laughed off with an undertone of serious curiosity.

“Well, some creatures...just haven’t changed over the many years since... _whatever_ happened. They work as perfect conductors. Don’t worry, we feed them.” Amy smiled.

Piercer’s eyes darted towards the two amusement park owners as he gripped his dirtied Archerat attire in dire desperation of their cleansing. “Please. Point me in the closest direction.”

Lute jabbed the mute rat’s side with his elbow and gave him a smug look.  
“What, you don’t enjoy the comfort of your new skull shirt anymore?”

Piercer gave him a sharp glare before turning to follow Amy and Brad towards another building in front of him. Now left alone around a few humans and creatures he didn’t know, he resorted to whistling and searching around until his eyes met with the conversing Kara again. He jogged over to her which got the attention of the two other humans.

“Hey, you’re not gonna believe this at first, but...” Lute slowly reached into his pocket and revealed the silver chain of the unknown item before it’s base form finally came into view. The circular, shiny watch reflected in Kara’s irises as they widened.

“You found the pocket watch? No way! Where did you-?”

Lute pointed further down at one of the game booths.

“Turns out Piercer has a knack for sharpshooting just as well as he does with archery. Was all him...I suck at that stuff.”

Kara paced back in forth in short bursts while grinning before giving Lute playful fist to the shoulder. “That’s what I’m talking about!”

She finally turned back to the two humans she had left mid-conversation. “Sorry, sorry. It’s just...we found this community and the leader wants you to prove that your a good scavenger hunt before you can enter. We have to find a couple of things before being allowed entry. And the kicker? Both humans _and_ mutes live there! It’s kind of just like this place!”

“Really? Wow that’s...something.” David responded.

“You both could even-”

**SCREEEEEEEEEE**

An ear-piercing screech filled the air, causing many of the park attendees to look up at the moonlit sky.

Kara and Lute’s eyes shrunk into pinpricks at the sound.

“No...” Lute said under his breath as the creeping dread spread throughout his body.

A pink flamingo was hovering far above near the illuminated form of the moon. It screeched a second time as it dived towards some unknown park attendees seated on the amusement Ferris wheel. As the two figures fell from the wheel, they were left dangling on the one of the steel platforms.

Kara and Lute felt frozen in place as the two humans they were just talking to ran in front of them, shaking them back to action. Elise looked Kara in the eyes and pulled her by the arm.

“We have to go, now! They found us again!” David said aloud as he finally snapped Lute out of his shocked state. 

“No...” Lute repeated again, as Kara jumped into motion and grabbed Lute’s arm, guiding him towards a nearby building.

“We need to get out of here, we need to get out of here!” Kara’s heart started tripling in it’s beating. “Not again...I won’t let-agh!”

Through the panic, both Lute and Kara failed to notice the second mute flamingo that had took notice not long after the first’s appearance. The swooping it made in an attempt to grab them failed and instead separated them from Elise and David. The dive stopped the two adults from moving on with Kara and Lute as they fell on their backs.

“Just go you two, hurry!” Elise screamed as the creature, now clear to have a rider, turned around to aim a second time.

“What the hell is going on, now?” a voice called out as the originator rounded from behind a tent near the commotion and was revealed to be Piercer.

He stretched on his newly washed gloves and found his friends nearing a tall gray building next to him. He wasted no more time in following them. But as he made it to the door and raised his sights to the sky, his magenta eyes grew into pinpricks.

The Archerat’s eyes fixated on the pink two-headed mute flamingo with it’s rider coming full circle down towards the two humans that were now getting to their feet. His mind went blank. Everything was quiet. All but the subtle static that echoed faintly through the emptiness.. All but the recollections of his memories. Of his past.

_They came back to haunt him._

  
**_“Elder, what’s this ab-ut?”_ **

Piercer’s hand jerked to the bow around him.

**_“It’s alri-ht. I have this under c-ntrol.”_ **

His eyes twitching, the arrow was now in his hand, firmly gripped.

**_It w-s a h-man. A white-m-sked hum-n._ **

His eye aligned with the arrow now pressed tightly against the drawstring.

**_Sc-rlem-n-e’s posse h-d fou-d them on-e m-re._ **

  


  
Piercer let go of the arrow.

  


  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a long-a$$ chapter at first, so I split it into two. I seriously need to condense my writing sometimes...but the rush of life, man...it gets you!


	5. EP 5: ...Was Fun While It Lasted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara and the her friends attempt to escape capture from vaguely familiar pursuers. Friends re-unite. Things don't go well for someone on the road.

_**Piercer let go of the arrow.** _

The pink flamingo mute’s screeching was put to a halt just before it reached the cowering humans. The arrow had slid straight through both heads of the flamingo, leaving it to fall before it’s intended destination and skid past the two adults. The rider collapsed onto the ground after rolling over a few times and stopped close by.

Kara stepped out of the building door and beckoned the humans over. “David, Elise! Come on! Hurry!”

The two humans ran forth, doing best to ignore the dead flamingo and the weirdly-dressed rider that lay unresponsive in front of them. David passed first but as Elise followed, something caught her ankle. She shrieked and turned around to find the flamingo rider was still conscious and his hand gripped around her leg. 

What disturbed her most was the uncanny grin the rider gave off.

“Don’t you want to dance into the unforeseeable future?” the rider asked in a sing-song like tone.  
“Scarlama-”

Before the rider could finish, Elise lifted her free leg and swung her foot across the side of the rider’s head, sending the head jerking back and effectively cracking the white mask it wore.

“W-what?” Kara said as the two humans ran past her and into the building.

“It was another human? The whole time? It was a...” Lute tried rationalizing what the implications meant as Kara shook Piercer’s shoulders.

Piercer’s gaze was still fixated on the two-headed flamingo that remained still and stiff on the ground. After a hand lightly slapped the side of his face, the rat mute shook his head slightly and looked to his friends.

“Earth to Piercer! You there? We gotta go!” Kara told the Archerat as she guided him inside.

The doors slammed behind them and everyone immediately went to finding a way out the back.

“Up there. There’s a starca-”

**CRASHHH**

An enormous boom sounded throughout the room as something came crashing through the wall behind them. Everyone’s shock and panic died down as the cause was identified as a roller coaster cart. But who was in it gave further confusion to the whole situation.

Two figures began talking amongst themselves, oblivious to the eyes set upon them.

“It won’t go back! Benson, it won’t go back!” the pink-haired human continued to fret as she rubbed what seemed to be fur on one of her arms.

“Um, okay...this is...is is normal for girls, right? They’re supposed to grow fur on their arms and jump from enormous heights like no big deal-io... _right?”_

The kid called Benson blinked at the sound of a cough and looked out of the cart towards the group of humans and a single rat mute that stood amongst them.

The awkward stare-off was interrupted by a mute flamingo pushing it’s two heads into the hole in the wall, it’s thrashing body just barely too big to fit through easily. No one had any time to ask questions. The two humans leaped out of the cart and ran along with the rest of the group of escapees.

Right on cue, the struggling pink flamingo had just squeezed through the hole in the building’s wall and let out ear-piercing screech. David opened the back door for everyone, slamming it behind him just as the flamingo pushed against it with it’s massive weight.

Kara met with the two new young humans down the steps that led to the blocked exit doors. The next obstacle was the assortment of junk that oh-so inconveniently kept them barricaded inside.

“Quite an entrance you two made.” Kara quipped, pulling a rolling cart with boxes on top out of the way of the exit door they were desperately aiming to clear through. She paused after catching glimpse of the young girl’s arm.

“Um...is that an _accessory_ , or...” Kara was cut off as a loud bang rang out, signifying the flamingo rider’s clearance through the door they closed behind them.

“Heh, no time to give small talk! Crazy, rabid flamingo is on our backs right now!” Benson nervously chuckled out and grunted as he attempted to pull the heavy pallet of wood off of the door to their freedom.

Piercer stood defensive behind everyone else with his bow and arrows at the ready, He pointed towards the door behind them that was currently on it’s last hinges. 

Meanwhile, Lute and David joined in and got the wood out of the way, finally revealing the door handle behind it. Just as they pushed forward and were met with the outside again, the flamingo mute had stopped on the top of the stairs.

“Wait! Wait! You’ll all be free of your struggles...just cease your running! _Scarlemange_ has a-”

“Screw Scarlemange!” Kara shouted back at the masked rider through the crack in the door. She slammed it behind her and let out a hardy laugh, turning to join her fleeing friends.

Before she could take a full step, the doors barged open wide from behind. The force of the flamingo that emerged from it sent Kara flying forward and sliding on her stomach. Dazed, she wobbly stepped back to full height and continued to run. She didn’t dare to look behind her. Kara did not even want to know how close their pursuer was to them.

Unfortunately, it didn’t make a difference.

The only warning Kara got was a last-minute shout from Lute before something gripped the back of her shirt and her feet were suddenly off the ground.

“Kara, no!” Kara heard Lute scream out as his friend was lifted into the air. 

_‘No.’_

Kara pulled out her trusty buck knife and positioned it accordingly through the apprehensive rush of the moment.

‘Not again...not this time.’

Kara jabbed the knife behind her with all of her strength and was met inside the shoulder of the mute and a screech to match. The grip the flamingo creature had on her was released and she was left to free fall towards solid ground.

_‘I’ve fallen from higher places.’_

Kara met the ground with a planned roll. The shock of the impact left her briefly disoriented, but ultimately okay. Her sore shoulder from her earlier encounter with the Scooter Skunks was re-agitated but she pushed through the pain.

“Kara, _yes!_ ” Lute said to her in glee as she joined the fray once again.

A familiar gray van skidded around a corner and in front of them all with Amy and Brad to greet them.

“Everyone get in!” Amy ordered as the back doors swung open.

Everyone rushed inside of the vehicle, cramming themselves around one another in the limited space as the van took off again.

“You okay, Kara?” Piercer asked placing a hand on her shoulder.

Kara winced, but smiled nonetheless. “That Scooter Skunk got a good swing in, I’ll admit. I’m guessing it still hasn’t healed up. But yeah I’m fine.”

The lot of humans and one Archerat all looked amongst themselves as the van sped out of Ratland.

“So...” Lute started, looking towards the pink-haired and dark-skinned humans. “What’s your names?”

“Heh, right. My name’s Benson and this is Kipo.” Benson revealed nodding over to the girl who hid behind him.

Kipo waved her left hand with closed eyes and a smile, keeping her left arm hidden behind her.

Kara looked on behind Benson and directly at Kipo. She quit her staring after realizing that she was going about it too long.

“I’m Kara, and this is Lute and Piercer.” Kara disclosed in return as she waved a hand to her two good friends. “And these are David and Elise. We literally just met, but now we’re like, _super best_ survival friends.”

Both David and Elise laughed lightly before Elise turned to one of the amusement park rats.

“Hey Amy...is everyone back there...okay?” Elise asked as Ratland grew even more distant. 

Amy met the woman’s worries with a grin and a thumbs up. “Yup. We evacuated all of the humans just in time. We’ll be back to let them out of the basement hideout just as soon as you’re all in the clear. No need to worry.”

Elise sat back in her seat with a lighter head. David wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close.

Looking to the ceiling of the car, Kara closed her eyes and took in a deep breath at the sudden remembrance of the flamingo rider. And the mask that cracked and revealed the face underneath. Never in a hundred years did she guess...

“Lute...you saw him too, right?”

Lute looked over to Kara and guessed right. “The flamingo rider? Being _human_? Yeah, that was a mic drop for me...all these years and we _never_ caught that?”

Kara looked down again. “We were a lot younger then. It probably passed over us with all the screaming and running, he heh...” She looked over to the ones who called themselves Kipo and Benson as the van stopped.

“Well, this is our stop,” Benson opened the door and led Kipo out. “Thanks for everything you two.” he finished, giving both Amy and Brad fist bumps. “And sorry for the mess we made. Wish we had a giant broom to clean it all up.”

“No problem-o, Ben-pal! We’ll get repairs done in no time. Can’t keep a good rat down, am I right?” Brad replied with honest optimism.  
  
Kara looked up to Kipo and Benson just as they were walking off.

“Hey kids?”

Kipo and Benson’s attention turned back to Kara.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Kipo answered, her right arm still hidden behind her back.

Kara paused for a second, quickly bringing her eyes from her suspicions.

“Just...be careful okay? Crazy day today, ha...” Kara told them, waving a hand and bidding farewell.

“Ha! Yeah, no problem. Not our first run in with crazy things out to get us, fortunately.” Kipo replied with weak jest.

The van door closed and was off down the road before turning a corner out of sight.

* * *

Lute gripped the bridge of his instrument tightly as he store out the van window and into the darkness of the streets.

“We’re...sorry for all the trouble we caused.” Lute said without looking, catching Amy and Brad’s attention. “I know we probably brought over some unwanted attention your way.”

“Oh don’t worry about us. This is what we sighed up for. We believe in a world where humans and mutes can be themselves and not be judged. We’ll die for that future if we have to.” Amy assured them all with a bright smile that Lute never caught sight of.

“Though, we’d both rather not...if we don’t _have_ to, I mean.” Brad added, lifting a finger up.

“Could you do us one favor?” Kara asked, glancing at the two mute rats.

Amy and Brad looked at her through the front car mirror, awaiting her words.

Kara rubbed her arm, as if hesitant to go on. “Could you take us to the big radio tower? It’s close to a large waterfall and just before some mountain ridges. It shouldn’t be too far from where we are now so I can give vague directions. We have to meet a friend there. He got separated from us and...are we asking to much of you?”

“After what happened back there, as long as you still rate us good, we’ll drive you all to the edge of Las Vistas _and_ back.” Brad told them with a chuckle. “I’m only half-kidding. Just hang on tight. We’ll get you there in half the time you’d expect.”

* * *

  
It was still dark.

Knox continued his leaning against the radio tower and looked up to the moon in the sky.

It was a beautiful night. No clouds in the sky or anything.

A smile grew on his face.

It was a smile that held a trust and faith in those he called his best friends.

It was a smile that foretold that even though things were grim, a chance was still in full force. For all of them.

It was a smile that quickly retreated as he heard a distant screech. The human thought fast and dashed for some nearby overgrown scrubs and laid low while he scanned the sky around him.

Another painful squawk quickly followed the first as some creature not fully recognizable to him flew overhead and past his position and further away. Knox fully withdrew from his hiding as he deemed it safe again. He brushed off the dust he accumulated over himself and caught sound of something else.

He sighed agitatedly as he dived for the bushes a second time before a vehicle pulled up in front of the radio tower. He watch three figures get out as the vehicle sped off down the road again, leaving them behind.

“Knox?” one of the figures whispered as it looked around.

There was no doubt in his mind.

Knox withdrew from his position a second time and a wide grin overtook his face.

“Kara? Lute? That you Piercer?” Knox said back, cautiously approaching the two with rushed steps.

The two figures turned towards Knox and their forms became clearer and clearer until eventually he found himself in a friendly hug.

“Missed you, pal. Glad you made it. We didn’t take too long, did we?” Kara asked Knox as she finished by patting his back.

“Not at all. I actually just got here an hour ago...had no doubt in my mind you all were going to make it here. Now all we have to do is get back on track. And we really don’t have a lot of time if I gotta be honest.”

Knox reached inside of his backpack, unveiling a wooden carving of a horse-riding man to the three. He smiled as their faces lit up.

“So you made work out of your loneliness, huh?” Piercer said, grinning as he eyed Lute, who in return reached into his pocket.

Lute flashed the ticking pocket watch in front of him which brung their show-and-tell to an even draw.

“We’re two for three. And we have one more day. Can’t believe we’ve actually gotten his far. We can do this. Just one more and we’re back to Lensvile. We got this.” Kara affirmed everyone as she turned around and began walking. She made it two steps forward before stopping and turning around. “So, anyone remember exactly where we left off? Cause I don’t have a damn clue.”

Knox gave of a laugh as he waved them over. “Don’t worry, I’ve got an idea. Maybe we can share road stories because I know I’ve been through some stuff.”

“You have a bigger notebook?” Kara countered, side-eying Knox as she picked up a stick and threw it up ahead. “Cause you’re gonna want one with all the crap we have to say.”

* * *

  
The gray van braked harshly as a black car speed past them on the road and cut it off.

  
Out stepped two figures who were illuminated in the lights of the vehicle Amy and Brad resided in. Their forms became unmistakable.

“Mod Frogs? Humans, get down!” Brad whispered harshly to David and Elise. They lowered themselves off their seats and onto the floor of the car, trying their best to remain concealed.

The larger Mod Frog, Kwat, remained outside of the black car and stood by the back door with numb-chucks in hand. The two other Mod Frogs continued forth in stride, taking their merry time to get to the front side of the van.

One frog mute leaned on the passenger front door on Brad’s side and the second rested his arms on top of the rolled down driver’s side car window. Amy giggled deeply and tilted her park hat to the frog’s penetrating stare as he proceeded in his deep smile.

“Jamack and Harris? Ha ha, heck of a time to meet, huh? You all out on another human hunt? Cause we’ve been hard-pressed to find any, but-”

Jamack raised a finger which automatically caused Amy to stop talking. He held it suspended for a while before pointing inside of the vehicle. And not at her or Brad.

“You did a good job, regardless. We commend you!” Jamack told them with an ecstatic energy.

Amy and Brad looked at each other before they brung their confused looks back to the green frog mute.

“Huh?” Brad lifted both hands up. “We were just on a quick run for our park. We need some more bolts to screw in...for our _‘Super Rad’_ roller coaster?”

Jamack didn’t respond, choosing to eye Harris through the window on the other side of the car. He jerked his head to the side. “Harris, please retrieve our new car mates from the back.”

Amy and Brad filled with dread as Harris lifted his nail-riddled bat up against his shoulder and proceeded to inch his way back to the end of the van. He peered through the dark-tinted windows and squinted. Sighing at the uselessness of his efforts to see, Harris gripped the handle back door and slid it open.

Harris only had milliseconds to react to the small blade that reached out for his gut. The Mod Frog stepped back further to avoid David’s rush for Harris’s neck.

“What’s the commotion, Harris? Is it that hard to-” Jamack rounded to the other side and paused at the sight of Harris holding back the human adult’s wrist to avoid getting stabbed through.

With a rush of conjured strength, Harris wrenched the human’s knife-wielding hand out and away from him. The Mod Frog followed up by charging his shoulder into the human’s chest which caused him to stumble back.

Jamack knew what was coming next.

“Stop, Harris. Don’t kill the hu-”

David corrected his stance just as Harris stepped up and swung his bat’s deadly end against the side of the human’s face.

Droplets of blood flew against the side of the van.

Elise spectated in disbelief as his husband spun around and fell to the pavement.

“Nooo! David! _David!_ ” Elise called out from the van in a cracked voice filled with horror. She bolted her hand for the van door handle and tumbled out of it in a clumsy rush. But before she could reach her downed husband, Kwat had reached the conflict and restrained her arms from behind.

“Let me go! Now!” Elise screamed through the tears streaming down her face. The human thrashed in vain as the larger Mod Frog watched her in a silent pity.

David’s stunned form caught sight of the knife in front of him and Harris wasted no time bringing the bat up above him.

Elsie flinched as the bat was brung down against her husband’s head. The crack that followed drew out any energy to scream.

Jamack quickly marched up to Harris and gripped his shirt collar, swinging him against the side of the van. 

“What the _hell_ did you do that for? We need our captures _alive!_ Is that so goddamned hard to understand!” Jamack shouted. He gritted his teeth harshly as his colleague responded with anger of his own. 

“He tried to kill me, Jamack!” Harris countered, swinging his blood-covered bat outwards with the hand that griped it.

“Do you have no _restraint?_ ” Jamack hissed as he tightened his grip on Harris’s collar and threatened to lift his feet from the ground. “You have a tongue, don’t you? Use it! You are not Mrs. Sartori! You don’t get to make the calls on who dies and lives!”

“Oh? And you _do_? is that it, Jamack?” Harris spat back with a venomous glare to match.

Amy and Brad were frozen in fear inside of their van as a deep moment of tense silence commenced.

Harris persisted in his sharp-edged stare at Jamack as his hand balled into a strained fist.

“Get in the car, Harris.” Jamack commanded.

Harris didn’t budge.

“Now.” Jamack told him through gritted teeth.

Harris stood in front of Jamack for just a bit longer before bringing his vision past him as his legs followed. Jamack stood in place and averted his gaze from the unmoving body of the unfortunate human whose form was half-hidden behind the van from where he stood.

The wailing cries of the remaining human continued as she was guided to Mod Frog car. Jamack turned and stopped at the front of the van. He slowly caught eyes with Amy and Brad who were both still unmoving as if lighting would strike them down at the first sign of movement. The only visible motion were the tears streaming down Amy’s eyes.

“I think this was warning enough.” Jamack told the two as he turned back towards his car, eying Harris through the front windshield. “If you continue to help humans, more of this is bound to happen. Although I can’t promise none of my own won’t...I won’t tell of your treachery. But sooner or later...it’s _all_ going to catch up with you both. Drive safely.”

As Jamack finally joined the rest of the Mod Frogs, Amy and Brad watched on in grief and guilt as Elise was put into the backseat. The engine revved up and it wasn’t long before the Mod Frog car was gone and out of sight.

Brad immediately got out of the van.

“I’m going to bury him...w-we have to bury him. It’s only right, Amy.”

* * *

The headlights of the black car lead the way as the wheels responded well with the sharp turns that met them.

Jamack was tired.

He gripped the steering wheel hard as he caught glimpse of Harris in the back seat through the interior mirror.

And Harris’s vision met his all the same.

It felt as if a hundred words had passed through Jamack with just those few seconds of eye contact.

Ripping his eyes away, he focused back on the road just in time to meet another turn.

The night was long and Jamack wished for it all to be over as fast as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending song: [BASTILLE // The Driver](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foXqHUopCJU)
> 
> Someone has anger management issues...


	6. EP 6: Ghosts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cecilia is visited by familiar, unwelcome guests. Her recent past actions come back for a reckoning. With an uncertain future ahead, the alpha mother makes a risky, but much-needed decision.

_**WARNING: This gets pretty dark....so yeah.** _

  
_Two figures sat before the beautiful lake in the woods not far from their old home, one larger than the other._

_“Haven’t been here in a long while...it feels...bittersweet.”_

_The adult mute wolf looked to the young human and ran a hand through her frizzy hair, which prompted the human to look up and meet with the wolf’s magenta-hued eyes. A fretted expression was apparent on her face._

_“I know, Jolene...”_

_“I told you...it’s ---- now.”_

_"Right...----, I’m deeply deeply sorry for how we treated you. How I treated you. I wish I had the chance to make my peace earlier...before you hit me with that plank of wood.” the wolf chuckled out, looking back towards the lake with a small frown to contrast. “I caused you extensive harm...and I’m-”_

_“It’s okay, Cecilia...”_

_The wolf looked down to the human child and tried to say something. No words came out._

_\---- weighed the deathstalker staff in her hands before setting it beside her. A frown was still ever-present on her face, but ---- said her peace nevertheless._

_“We’ve all got trauma. And it cycles until someone puts a stop to it...and that usually starts with yourself. Those humans you said wouldn’t help you when you and Alphonso needed it? That was the start. The rest just cemented your hate...your hatred for humans. It gave you a false reason to treat me like you did...and now your working to do better. I...I’m going to try and forgive you, okay? Just try to put it all behind you.” ---- folded her arms and continued her stare past the old lake._

_Cecilia waited a few seconds in her stare at her former adoptive child before giving up on anticipating the return of focus on herself. She joined ----’s await for the sunset on the lake._

_“I never thought I’d see the day...” Cecilia told the human as she smiled at the body of water, taking a nearby rock and skipping it across the watery surface._

_“See what day?”_

_The mute wolf smiled._

_A **smile that twisted into a hungry, twisted grin.**_

**_The wolf’s teeth glistened in the sunlight that abruptly halted, leaving the two in complete, perpetual blackness._ **

_Wolf’s heart leaped out of her chest and she reached for where she last saw her deathstalker staff, but her hand was swatted away just as she had it, leaving three bloody cuts along the back of her hand._

_\---- hissed at the stinging pain and turned wide eyes towards her adoptive mother._

_The pink eyes of Cecilia bore through the dark with a clear contrast._

_The human child turned to run._

_She only made it a few steps before she was shoved from behind with a nasty snarl to accompany._

_\---- collided with the ground and immediately flipped herself onto her back and brung her arms in front of her._

_Another slash left cuts across her arm. ---- cried out as the tears began to freshly sprout from her eyes._

_"Stop! Please! We’re supposed to put this behind us! Why-agh!”_

_\---- felt another scratch against her body. It kept going and going until Cecilia’s voice rang out angrily._

_“I’m ~~not~~ your mother! You we’re ~~never~~ supposed to escape!”_

  
_Through the blood._

_Through the pain._

_Through the growing darkness._

_\---- still spoke._

_And Cecilia heard clear._

  
_“I still love you...even **i f y o u d o n ‘ t l o v e m e, m o t h e r.** “_

_The wolf’s jaws shot at ----’s fragile form and-_

* * *

  
Cecilia gasped as she jerked upright in her bed.

Her racing heart mixed along with her shaky form as she wrapped her arms around herself and took in sharp, ragged breaths. The wolf’s eyes remained fixated in front of her, frozen and afraid of what moving would bring.

But bravely, she shot her hands to the fur of her head, pulling it to assure herself that she was truly within reality.

She found that she was.

She exhaled with a bittersweet smile and rubbed her face. All sorts of emotions began swirling around inside her, but she kept them at bay the best she could. Cecilia took in a few breaths of air before she broke down again.

Her attempts at calming herself were ultimately useless. A river of tears began to flow down her face. Everything felt surreal. Everything came at her all at once. She envisioned her husband, Alphonso. She envisioned her life before her children. She envisioned the first life she bore that was almost taken away from her.

_**By humans.** _

Cecilia growled and seethed through the blurry vision caused by the liquid that pushed through her eyes as her past began to eat at her mercilessly.

But then she remembered _Jolene_.

Her grip on the bedsheets that still loosely covered her eased.

The terrors that constantly haunted her dreams hadn’t eased since she last saw her. She caught her long-deceased husband in the corner of her eyes on some days.

And when Jolene crossed her mind...everything seemed to come back to normal.

But not while she was sleep. Cecilia shook her head to get the terrifying images of the nightmare still fresh in her mind out of her head.

“I _wouldn’t_ do that...I...” Cecilia self-assured, failing to impress her inner doubts.

Cecilia had a hard time grasping that. She wasn’t that delusional. She knew who she was. Or at least, who she used to be. However, despite the inner turmoil, her remembrance of what the human she met a day earlier said to her gave some more sense of comfort.

_**“I’m telling you a part of my own past to let you know that the past doesn’t have to keep hold over our futures...”** _

Cecilia relayed the sentence over and over in her mind as she calmed herself.

The wolf turned and met the sight of a full-blown moon glowing coolly outside of her window. She chose to leave it open tonight, feeling that being left in complete darkness wasn’t for the best interest of her mental state tonight.

“I feel like a child...” Cecilia said lightly to herself, chuckling lowly at the thought of needing her own personal light to keep her sane through the night.

Then she heard something from outside of her room.

Cecilia’s ears perked up and she grew alert. It sounded like...a voice. A short-lived word that never finished. And it sounded familiar.

Cecilia’s gut feeling began to stir. She could have brushed it off as just one of her kids up at night or her sister yawning sharply...but she went with her quiet suspicions and flung her legs over to the ground as she got out of bed. Grabbing the small knife under the pillow next to her, she slowly approached her bedroom door and placed a ear against it. She heard nothing. Gripping the door handle and opening it as silently as she could, Cecilia was met with the darkness of a straight hallway.

Nothing in particular. The wolf took a few slow steps forward, nearing the bathroom door.

 _‘Maybe I’m just shaken up...’_ Cecilia thought to herself. _‘It’s been a terrible sleep-’_

The moment Cecilia had realized the bathroom door was open was met late to her as she turned just in time to catch a dark figure standing inside. She felt something crash against her cranium. Her grip on the knife loosened completely and everything faded into darkness.

* * *

  
Cecilia’s eyes blinked slowly as her foggy brain came to again. And her eyes shot open at the sudden acknowledgment.

The acknowledgment that her hands were tied up behind her to the chair she sat in with two mutes standing in front of her.

“Cecilia...you okay?” a voice called shakily from nearby.

Cecilia jerked her head to her right and found a new-found dread arise as she found that her friend was in the same predicament as her.

“Elsa, are you hurt? Did they-”

“No...I’m okay. They caught me off guard while I was sleep...” Elsa told her, tears still streaming down her face. “T-they told me if I fought back they would hurt the kids..I’m sorry...”

Cecilia wrestled with the ropes that bonded her as one of the two hyena mutes stepped closer and store down at her with a sly grin.

_She knew who they were now._

_The hyenas that she stole from near the park._

“I’m sure you saw this day coming, she-wolf. You may be a wolf, but it doesn’t mean you’re the only mutes out there that are exceptional at tracking and covering tracks all the same.” the closest hyena told her with a slightly giddy tone, as if anticipating something exciting. Cecilia’s eyes shot back to the hyena and evened eyes with him, delivering a searing glare.

“Let. Us. Go. _Now_.” she growled through clenched canines.

The hyena mockingly straightened his vest jacket and reached into his back pocket. He held up a long knife and flicked it’s blade into clear view.

“I haven’t had the pleasure of giving out my name before with all the runnin’ around. Call me Gef.” the hyena revealed as he circled around the two wolves. 

“And you’re in no position to be making demands.” Gef whispered into Cecilia’s ears from behind.

“Where are my children?” Cecilia asked, growling in a building rage.

Coming full-circle, he stopped back in front of the two wolves and chuckled.

“I was waiting for you to ask! Do you even care about them as much as you think you do? Cause if I were you, I would have asked as soon as I-”

“Bring me... _my children_.”

Gef paused at the order. “Well, looks who’s still acting in char-”

“Bring me _MY CHILDREN!_ ” Cecilia repeated in a roar. Her teeth bared as the leader of the hyenas continued to beam.

Laughing at her useless attempts at empowerment, Gef moved towards the bedroom door and knocked on it.

“It’s party time! Bring in the little brats.” Gef signaled.

The door opened with two more hyena mutes stepping in. Herded from behind were Cecilia’s children. They walked in one by one.

_Josef._

_Rupert._

_Sebastian._

_Jack._

_Margot._

Cecilia’s heart pulsed vibrations of somber relief as her bound children were positioned against the wall behind the hyena gang. Her hands gripped into fists and unclenched. She tried to work a way for her sharp claws to grind the ropes, but was not having much luck so far. Still, she desperately went at it.

“Everyone’s been counted for!” Gef exaggeratedly confirmed, twirling his sharp blade in the air. “Now...let’s recap.”

“Mom? Are you okay?” Margot called out in apprehension. Her face was twisted into a fear Cecilia never wanted to see again.

Cecilia looked through the group of mutes and smiled at her daughter. “Your mother and Elsa are okay, honey. Don’t worry, it’ll be-”

Gef knelt down and brought the knife uncomfortably close to Cecilia.

“Look,” Cecilia started as the cool blade was pressed softly against her neck. “What I did was all me. No one else here deserves any punishment. I was trying to survive, just like any of you. At least have some sense!” 

“Remember this?” Gef asked, waving his blade in front of her again and ignoring the wolf’s defenses. “It’s got some unfinished business with you, hehe...”

Cecilia’s fears finally shattered through her bold demeanor as the blade ran very slowly towards her eyes.

“Wait, please! I’ll do anything! Just...let them go.” she pleaded as her eyes began water. Meanwhile, her claws were still discreetly at work with the rope from behind.

Gef gave off a grin and brought his face uncomfortably close. “If I do, would you kiss me, hot stuff?”

Cecilia blinked and her heart grew sour. Through a heavy reluctance and her silent bid to speed up her attempts to cut her bonded hands free, she responded.

“Y-yes...”

Gef chuckled and reopened his eyes with traces of further malice. “How about this? I kill your friend, get a kiss from you and let your kids go? Sound fair?”

“No! I-you said if I-”

“Too bad.”

In a matter of seconds, Cecilia’s world flipped upside down again.

Gef swung his head over to Elsa and before she could protest, plunged the blade clean through her throat. Elsa’s eyes went wide with shock and uncontrollable horror as she found herself unable to scream or shout as the blood started to flow. Cecilia felt an insurmountable amount of rage pass through her as her friend went silent and her head slumped.

“Nooo!” Cecilia yelled at the top of her lungs as her sharp claws finally cut through the bindings.

Her hands now free, Cecilia rushed herself forward and caught Gef off guard. She brung her forehead forward and against Gef’s snout, causing him to yelp out in surprised affliction. Cecilia ripped the knife from his hand and thrusted it into his shoulder.

“Ahh! You son of a bi-” Gef was cut off by a kick to his stomach, sending him into a few of his own gang.

Cecilia didn’t stop.

Cecilia brung the knife through one of Gef’s lackeys before they could retaliate and ended his life. She turned and was met a hook across her face, staggering her backwards. The knife dropped from her hand.

The two remaining hyenas snarled and cornered her as she leaned against the wall behind her.

Her children‘s forms shook and trembled as they watched their mother rage against the hyenas that took another piece of meaning from her.

In the end, Cecilia was left with a scratch across her face, and the two hyena’s were left without breath.

Gef started shaking uncontrollably as he tried getting back on his feet but Cecilia kicked him right across his face, dazing him. The mother wolf gripped Gef’s arm and began to pull him towards the door.

“W-wait! I’m sorry! We-we should have never-wait!” Gef cries were ultimately worthless as Cecilia wordlessly moved on.

She passed her children and chilled them with her distant look. “Don’t worry. I’ll deal with him. You’ll all be safe.”

As Cecilia dragged Gef’s pleading form out of the bedroom, Sebastian struggled in vain to free himself of the ropes and quickly eyed the bloody knife his mother left behind.

* * *

Gef grunted in pain as the alpha mother yanked him up by his arm and landed a right hook across his face. Then a left hook. Then a punch to the gut. Then a rake of her claws across his face. Cecilia failed to relent in her unfettered assault on the hyena mute as they neared the steps to the first floor.

Cecilia shouted as she kicked him backwards and left his body to twist and fumble down the set of wooden stairs. His painful yelps for mercy did not do him any well. Cecilia slowly stepped down the stairs and found herself standing in front of Gef’s broken appearance on the floor.

**Through the adrenaline of anger, the wolf could still better observe the expression the hyena gave as she glared daggers into the mute's eyes.**

**The expression of pure fear.**

**And the expression of expectation.**

**Cecilia saw these things and relished in it.**

"I’m going _kill_ you...” Cecilia started with a lopsided smile filled with an intent opposite of his original purpose.

“Nice...” Cecilia leaned down and punched Gef across the face.

“And...” The wolf repeated her assault over and over again until Gef couldn’t muster the strength to speak.

“ _Slow!_ ”

Despite Cecilia’s claim, her blood lust was unable to meet with her words.

Cecilia gripped Gef’s vest jacket and swiped her claws across his neck, leaving him to slowly bleed out underneath her. She watched hypnotically as his terrified eyes began to gradually glass over. Gef’s form soon gave up on struggling to escape the pull of death.

Droplets of tears fell down from the mother’s eyes and contrasted the wide, satisfied smile she wore on her face. But she failed to catch the unbound and small forms of her children hiding scared behind the railing of the second floor.

“M-mom...”

Cecilia twitched and blinked herself out of her trance. She looked behind her to find all of her children gazing down on her. Her heart dropped as soon as she caught their looks.

Cecilia slowly got up and accessed herself. She accessed the blood all over her black, buttoned shirt. In her fur. And on the ground.

Everything came back to her at full force.

“Children... _please_...I...we have to leave. It’s...not safe here anymore.” Cecilia told them through the rush of tears that she kept wiping away. She began to walk back towards the steps and closer to her adolescent kids.

“I did what I had to do...to protect all of you. As long as you’re all safe...that’s _all_ that matters.” she looked back down at her blood-covered hands.

Margot shook her head and rushed downstairs and in front of her mother.

“I know... _we_ know. You’re our mother...” Margot tried to comfort her, going in for a hug before Cecilia stopped her.

“No, stop...I don’t want you to get the...blood...” Cecilia was opposed in finishing.

“I understand.” Margot stepped back and gave her an unconvincing smile.

A smile that her mother couldn’t muster to fake herself.

“I’m sorry.”

* * *

  
Cecilia stood from kneeling in front of the newly-dug grave of her close friend, Elsa.

She lay buried right beside her late husband Alphonso. Cecilia and her pups all stood silently around the family they’ve lost and prepared to grieve their last grievances. 

Margot took the collected handful of daisy petals and tossed them above Elsa’s grave. They all watched as the petals spun and floated gently down around the burial. Sebastian brung his arms around his sister as she began to cry again.

“It’s alright, sis.” he told her.

Cecilia found it extremely hard to rip her eyes away from the two people that mattered the most to her outside of her kids. No matter how hard she tried, she felt that if she left their home, everything that she had built with Alphonso and Elsa would fade away with every step.

She knew it was completely wrong.

Alphonso and her closest friend assured her of that.

She had to let go of her fears.

She had to move forward.

The alpha mother's hands gripped the trail ends of the pink sweatshirt tied around her neck.

 _Alphonso's_ pink sweatshirt.

She kept it stored with her before she buried him. She sometimes found herself with her muzzle buried into it as it soaked up the tears flowing from her heart-striken face.

But she never had the strength to actually wear it.

Until now.

Cecilia looked down at the pea jacket she had on and reached into it’s pocket. Pulling out the white piece of paper, she re-analyzed the directions given to her by the human she met not too long ago.

Directions to _Lensvile_.

If that human was to be trusted, this was their last chance at an assured abode. A place for her and her pups to truly feel safe.

She took in a deep breath and chose to take the chance. 

Cecilia held the paper to her chest and closed her eyes. Taking in a shaky breath, she opened them back up to meet them evenly with her children.

“We’re going to be okay. It’s all going to be okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending song:[Lee Dewyze - Blackbird Song](https://youtu.be/Wbgb3lgMluA)
> 
> AN: I’m not letting Cecilia (Alpha Mom) off the hook so easily for what she did to Wolf. She’s going to have to really earn it.


	7. EP 7: Negotiations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clues are given to the Newton Wolves for further inspection. Knox and his group finally venture back to Lensvile, but not without disappointment. After waging something prescious, Knox and Piercer leave again to compete their mission.

A room full of books; a chair sat upon by a mute.

  
The shine of a buck knife glinted in the candle light as it twirled in between the mandrill's fingers.

It's eyes remained fixated on it as he waited.

Dried up blood was left still streaked against the blade end. The mandrill itself wasn't sure how long he was left to glare at the weapon that distressed his patience so, but not soon after he was left pondering this, the door to his private office was knocked upon.

"Come in."

The office door slowly creeped open and in popped the faces of two mute wolves. They were wearing contrasting turtle necks, but the same expressions of apprehension and worry.

"Scarlamange? Y-you called us down?" Bad Billions asked, mentally knocking on his head a bit too late for stating the obvious.

Scarlamange did not answer.

His eyes had not yet left the buck knife, even as the two Newton Wolves had entered. The mandrill stopped twirling the knife and held it pointed slightly towards them with the sharp end. He left it in clear view for the two wolves to observe before the brothers fixated each other confused glances.

The knife was stabbed into the wooden desk with a great force, leaving it to stick out as he released it. The wolves' fur was left to stand on end.

"This knife... belonged to a human." Scarlamange began. His eyes moved up to meet the Billions brother's. "And this _human...put_ it in one of my poor flamingo's neck....nearly killed the poor girl!"

The Billions watched on with their hands clenched as the mandrill continued with his voice raising. Every passing moment felt tense. They were relatively fine with their 'human capture quota' as Scarlamange put it, but watching the mandrill mute rant in any sense of anger was always a scary, unpredictable sight.

"So..." Scarlamange began to close. "I've already spoken with the rest of the other groups about this...not like you two to be late."

"Please excuse us." Good Billions twirled good fingers. "We were on the hunt for some new erlenmeyer flasks since a certain someone knocked over our only supply and we ran int-''

"Alright, alright." The mandrill cut off. "Please do best to not be late again. First and final warning. But I also require something else of you...

Scarlamange pulled out the knife and held it to the Newton Wolves. His smile stretched from ear to ear. 

"Can you catch any trace of human still on this here knife? Maybe we can speed up the process of which human precisely did what they did. We already know they passed through Ratland...another problem I have to deal with..."

Good Billions grinned from ear to ear with him and corrected his glasses.

"Oooh, so something along the lines of a mystery hunt? Sounds thrilling." 

Bad Billions took hold of the buck knife and took in a focused sniff, closing his eyes and analysing any familiarities. But nothing came up. Good Billions had no better luck. Still, they took note.

"Nothin...but we'll be sure to let ya know if we find any humans sharing this scent..." Bad Billions assured Scarlamange.

The mandrill intertwined his fingers and lowered his head. Though his eyes narrowed, his smile widened.  
"That is all." Scarlamange began to close. He tapped his fingers repeatedly against the wooden desk. As Bad Billions motioned to give the blade back, the mandrill noble held out his palm to him.

"Keep it. You'll need it. It'll make this whole mess much easier...you are dismissed."

As the two canine brothers made way out of the office, the 18th century-attired mandrill tapped his nails hard on his desk.

"I want them brought directly to me. _Directly. Alive_."  
The Billions froze in their gaze at their employer and nodded vigorously in unison. They wasted no time shutting the door behind them as they exited.

And thus the mandrill was left to himself once more.  
Scarlamange remained silent for a good while as he store unmovingly at the door in front of him. A good while that disapated as soon as he gritted his sharp teeth and banged his fists against his desk multiple times, before bringing his nails against the wood and scratching then down to the edge closer to him.

An abrupt laughter broke out of him as he rested his hands against his head.

Scarlamange took a long, deep breath. He arose and lifted his snout high.

"Everything is still on its course. No need to stress."

He told himself this as he relaxed his body and fell back loosely into his chair.

* * *

"What do you mean you can't make exceptions?" Kara blurted out loud at the suited human.

Knox and his group watched as the ever-shrinking gap in the gates that kept them from Lensvile's safe haven closed behind Devland. The community leader straightened his pose and looked sternly at the four.

"The deal was _three_ items of interest for entry, not two. You have brought me a wooden figurine and a pocket watch. You have failed at your task in bringing the third. A book-"

"Of _science_ , yes! But c'mon, doesn't extreme effort count for anything?" We nearly died, like, over hundred times out there!" Lute was seething with a fustration he barely held back.

Knox rested a hand on Lute's shoulder and stepped up to the attired man.

"Look...we can at least come to a compromise." Knox spoke, wide eyes glinting for something more.

"Two of you stay while the others complete the task." Devland offered. "If you fail this one last day, you all leave for good. You'll never see us again and you won't speak of this place again."

Devland tapped his foot in another brief bout of thought and gave Knox a knowing look.

"One _final_ condition."

Knox caught Devland's eyes as they left contact with his and trailed behind him. Knox knew that the community leader was going to say next before anyone else did.

"As price of failure, I also take your sword." Devland finalized, a growing smirk creeping into his face.

"I keep it until you come back, and if you return empty-handed...it's mine.. _permanently_."

Kara interjected the idea.

"What? That's totally out of the quest-"

"Deal." Knox said simply.

Kara, Lute and Piercer looked to their friend with equal surprise.

"You're really willing to give up your precious blade to him?" Piercer asked incredulously, looking to Knox as if he was dangling out his soul for the sharks to snap at. Not very far off, honestly.

"Yeah. I'm aware the sword is simply a wager due to asking for extra. Letting two of us in before competing our task...there's gotta be something to pay for if we fail. Isn't that right Devland? Besides..."

Knox walked up to the leader before stopping almost within feet of him. He held out his hand and awaited for Devland to do the same.

"I know we won't fail."

Devland laughed hardily and locked Knox's hand with his own. The shake solidified the agreement.

The katana Knox had long-possessed was now officially up for ransom.

Knox lowered his head before he store up at the clouds closest to the sun.

_Evening glory._

_"_ Kara...Lute...I need you both to stay here."

Before they could protest against the notion, Knox continued.

"Kara...your shoulders still in need of attention. The damage that Scooter Skunk did doesn't seem to be going away. No matter how minor, you need that checked. And Lute...don't you think this place needs a little more pizzazz? Your playing would definitely lift some sprits here." Knox said, looking at the two.

"No need to lull us to sleep with excuses. We get it." Kara punctuated with a fist held out to him.

" _Swear_ you'll be okay...even though I know you will."

Knox smiled and met her fist with his own.

"I swear. I really love you guys... _and_ this sword."

Knox gripped the katana and unstrapped it from his back. He store intently at it's red scabbard and slowly unsheathed it from it's case. It glinted beautifully in the sun's light.

Taking a deep breath, Knox rotated to Devland's waiting form and re-cased the blade. The blade was held out to the community leader who gladly accepted it.

"It'll be a gracious gift to accompany my ever-expanding collection of exotics." Devland snided as he held the red scabbard in his hands.

Knox grimaced at Devland's handling of the blade and looked up and through his eyes.

"I'll be back for it soon. Keep it safe for me."

Kara met Piercer with a surprise hug, wrapping her arms around him tightly and nuzzling his black fur.

"I didn't forget about you, Archerat." she told the rat mute. "Keep Knox safe, okay?"

Piercer tried to hide his blushing face by trailing his sights to the side.

"Yeah, sure..."

Knox eyed the road they had came from. There was no time to over-think the consequences of failure. They wouldn't fail.

"Alright... No more time to waste. We're off, you two. Keep our new beds warm."

* * *

  
Four hours of searching.

Four hours of unrest.

Things still weren't looking so hot for the human and Archerat.

So they stopped by the cuff of the nearby forest for a quick drink to help gather their heads again. Piercer reluctantly went along.

"Well, this sucks." Knox said simply as he emptied the last remaining droplets of water down his dry throat. "Should've at least given us some more to drink."

Piercer simply sighed and walked up to the nearest tree. He then proceeded to bang his head against it with minimal force.

"Night's getting to you already?"

Piercer spun around with an agitated expression. He raised his hands into the air.

"We can't afford to sit around like this! You heard what Devland said. And what about your blade? We can't sit around any longer!"

Knox paused before responding.

"Relax. Nothing wrong with a small break."

Piercer pulled at his fur.

"It's been ten minutes! That stupid suited human is probably rocking that katana of yours like it's a baby." Piercer turned back towards the trees and leapt up branch to branch, getting higher with every jump.

"I'm going to keep look- _holy mother of the rat gods_."

Knox blinked at the mutes words.

"Holy mother of the _rat gods_?" Knox repeated with a chuckle.

"Human. Get up here. You truly need to see this to believe it."

"Um, okay?"

Knox struggled a bit initially, but eventually found his feet on the branches just below Piercer.  
And then he saw it. The structure became easier to make out as his eyes adjusted through the darkness.

"Holy mother of the rat gods." Knox exclaimed in disbelief.

Just beyond a row of trees was a white building. And it was an unmistakable one.

  
It was an observatory.

A _science_ kind of observatory.

  
"Let's get to it. My heart is literally doing backflips. I can't wait to victory dance in Devland's face." Knox told his friend with a wide smile.

* * *

  
_Left._

_Right._

_Left._

_Right._

_Pause._

"Shhh. I think I heard something."

"I didn't hear anything."

"Huh....maybe it's my nerves."

Closer and closer Knox and Piercer got. And though there was still no sign of human nor mute, the apprehension never ceased.

It wasn't long before the massive structure was finally directly in front of them.

Knox stopped just shy of the double doors with Piercer leaned beside it, arrow pulled lightly against his bowstring. And as Knox took in a deep breath, he looked to his comrade.

Piercer nodded to him.

Knox nodded back.

The human knocked on the door and paused for whatever souls awaited on the other side. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wanted this to be longer and more detailed, but I'm currently writing on my phone as I moved locations recently and have no access to my computer. Next update shouldn't be another months wait 😉


	8. EP 8: Of Stars And Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Knox and Piercer find their way inside the observatory. While searching for the final item of Devland's request, they run into an unsettling sight. They are found out and tested.

_Knock Knock Knock_

“I...don’t think anyone can hear that.”

**_KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNO-KNOCK KNOCK_ **

“That’s more like it.”

More silence met Knox and Piercer despite best efforts.

Every attempt and with every passing second ruled the possibility of drawing attention and ambushes. So Piercer had his bow’s aim fixated on the door and an eye trained for the darkened forest behind them. But they had been at it for nearly two minutes and two minutes was far too long.

Piercer scratched the side of his face as his eyes slowly glazed over with the expression of irritation. The Archerat shot a hand out to his quiver and flicked out an arrow. The Archerat pressed himself against the cold, gray double doors and slipped the arrowhead through the crack. His ears twitched as he went to work.

“Ooooh, a little classic breaking-and-entering? I’m game.” Knox said, narrowing his eyes deviously.

“Shhh. I’m concentrating.” Piercer quietly responded. He closed his eyes and re-focused in on the miniature clicks and clanks that resonated in response to the sharp end of the arrow. However, the arrow in his hands snapped in half after adding an unintended amount of pressure. 

“Dammit...” Piercer cursed under his breath as he started over with a fresh one out the bag.

Knox tapped his foot as his partner carried along on his quest for door domination. The human kept eyes on the world around the observatory, taking on Piercer’s usual role as lookout. The night gave them a chance of concealment to their misdeeds, and though to some mutes the dark didn’t matter, it still would have been a safer bet to have arrived at daytime.

A slow-stacking anxiety began to loom over Knox as he lowered a hand to his waist, finding nothing to grasp in return. His katana and scabbard were gone. The human was still not used to his sword being absent, but for what rewards lie in wait, he would have to suffice without it for the time being.

He would get his sword back. There was no question in his mind.

“Knox, it’s unlocked.”

Knox shot an excited look behind him to discover Piercer peering inside of the now-opened doors to the observatory. Knox rubbed his hands greedily as the rat mute gestured him over.

“The book will soon be mine, muahahaha!” Knox laughed, exaggerating an evil arm raise towards the sky.

Piercer rolled his eyes.

“You’re acting extra goofy today.” Piercer called out quietly as his loaded bow maneuvered around the inside of the building.

“Sorry. My modest attitude looses it’s composure when I’m ahead of the game.” Knox admitted. He drew out his knife and followed the rat mute inside.

Piercer took no time to waste. A plan quickly swam through his head. “We should look for an exit path. We can’t get trapped in here and going back out the front door should be our last resort. Keep eyes peeled for any.”

“Roger that.”

The inside wasn’t the brightest in illumination, but it was still just enough to get around with no trouble. Though with the Archerat mute’s night vision eyes, it wouldn’t be much of an issue...at least for him.

Right in front of them was another pair of doors that led to an unknown future.

“What if they’re all...just waiting for us?” Knox pondered, tapping his knife against the flat of his palm.

Piercer stood to the side of the doors, ready to breach inside.

“Doesn’t matter. Open it. I’ll cover this time.”

Knox took in a deep breath and stepped in front of the two doors. His lack of katana was starting to get to him and he didn’t want to admit it to himself. 

Taking in a swift breath, Knox pushed the two doors open as a mighty creak followed.

As the doors revealed the unknown, the two found themselves in their first section of the building. And it was enormous. A spherical projector occupied the center of the chamber and a long table resided nearby with a stage just ahead of it, curtains to accompany it. 

All was quiet. All was silent. And more importantly...

  
There was still no one in sight.

  
“Let’s not get our hopes up yet. There’s still more rooms to check. On guard.” Piercer reminded as he swiped his narrowed sights around in observance with his arrow pointed out and following his vision.

“No need to tell me...” Knox eyed an old pamphlet and barely made out the words and pictures still legible on it’s cover. He wasn’t sure if it counted as a “book”, but he sure as all hell wasn’t going to slip off the chance. He placed it in his bag and zipped it back up, gripping his knife tighter as he quickly rejoined his friend towards the stage.

Piercer pulled the curtains back and found nothing but various floating planets, stars and neutrons all floating up as fake props. But nothing else of interest.

“Getting a little nervous at the lack of science books.” Knox relayed as he tapped the knife’s end against his pants.

Lowering his bow’s aim, Piercer joined in on Knox’s outlook.

“Can’t blame you. Only so many rooms left. Let’s just clear the rest and find our resolution to this.”

* * *

  
Piercer lead way further into the observatory alongside Knox. Every second and every step was filled with a dread they couldn’t quite place. Not that they knew they shared it. Not that they knew if it really foretold anything.

As they reached the hallway, framed portraits caught their eyes. The recognition of who was framed inside slowly made the apprehension worse.

“Great... _wolves_. Just our luck.” Knox muttered as his composure sullied down even further. He got closer and observed the line up of what was clearly a lineage of wolves. Wolves of science. Not what Knox expected.

And Knox couldn’t place it...but they looked strangely...familiar?

“Billions and Billions...so that’s their names? At least we know what to scream if we get caught.” Knox quipped.

“They’re all probably a bunch of nerds. Keep up.” Piercer told him, paying no mind to the electric tesla coil encased behind a steel cage fenced in the wall nearby as he passed.

Knox looked on in wonder as electricity sparked about the cage.

“So you’re just going to ignore the electricity thing?”

The next room had a clear label in blue words above it’s entrance. It read ‘ _Telescope Room_ ’.

As Piercer gripped the door, he looked to Knox for a wordless acknowledgment of his preparedness. The human nodded back as he raised his blade up in front of him. Piercer nodded back.

The door swung open and Piercer met either sides with his loaded arrow. Knox stepped inside and came to the same conclusion as Piercer.

No one.

But by the rat gods, were there books. Loads and loads of books. They all lay up for grabs on the multiple bookshelves. A warm feeling passed through Knox. “We found it, Piercer. Mr. Devland is going to be super pissed.”

Just before the two could relax, a muffled cry sounded off nearby, causing the trespassers to jolt back into alertness. Right in the corner to their left was a weasel mute, tied up and gagged leaving it unable to verbalize. It continued to squirm and struggle as Piercer nudged Knox’s shoulder.

“Not good. Hurry and pick out a book. I’ll get some answers.” Piercer pulled out his dagger as he approached the subdued weasel.

Knox ran up to the nearest book and pulled it out of it’s place, reviewing it’s title.

“’ _Of Stars And Things: A Beginner’s Guide To Astronomy_ ’...got it, Piercer.” Knox bagged the astronomy book as he rejoined Piercer and the weasel.

“So what’s the deal?” Knox asked just as Piercer removed the gag from the weasel’s mouth. The bound mutes' bloodshot eyes bulged as it yearned to speak and now it’s wishes were granted.

“You need to get out of here, now! They’re going to kill you!” the weasel claimed in a shivering panic. “Untie me, we need to leave now! The four-eyed one is insane!” the weasel claimed aggressively.

“ _Four-eyed_ wolves? That doesn’t sound too pleasing.” Knox clenched and unclenched his hand. “Let’s get o-”

Piercer’s ears twitched as his pink eyes grew wide in an instant.

“No time, hide now!” Piercer ordered, racing towards the close cluster of branches that jutted out of the ground and hiding behind it. Knox followed unquestioningly, leaving the weasel mute to fend for himself.

Voices faintly arose from outside the Telescope Room and became clearer with every step.

_Knock knock knock knock_

“Ooooh weasel? We’re hoooome.” a mockingly singsong voice announced through the door.

The weasel began cursing in hysterics as Knox and Piercer looked on in hiding. The door slowly creaked open and in stepped four different wolves. All sporting blazers and turtlenecks, two were alike in looks but the other two ahead of them stood out distinctly.

One wore a black blazer and had dark gray fur, and the second wore a white blazer and with golden, round glasses rested between it’s snout. This one in particular raised it’s nose and lowered it’s eyes in silent scorn at the poor weasel before him.

“Oh dear...Mark? How did you ungag yourself? We know you’re a crafty little thing, but this is rather impressive!” the bifolcaled mute wolf slowly stepped up to the weasel as he locked eyes deeply into his capture’s.

“But still...seems a bit strange.” the wolf continued, leaving a pondering thumb and pointer finger on it’s chin. “We tied that gag pretty securely...and the cloth that kept your mouth shut seems to have been easily ripped with what seems to have been a sharp tool, not chewed off...”

Knox and Piercer didn’t like where this was going.

“And if my assumptions are correct...” the wolf corrected his glasses and smiled. “...the culprits are still in this room.”

Knox’s heart began to race faster. They were definitely toying with them. If anything, the racing pulses within their chests had already given them away the moment they walked in. He gripped his knife tightly.

The mute wolf straightened his turtleneck and took off his glasses. Eying the black-blazered wolf beside him, he motioned his head towards the petrified weasel mute before rubbing small specs of degrees debris out of his focal lens.

“Brother Billions, please showcase an example of what could befall our unwelcome guests, should they continue to test our patience.”

The wolf pulled on his black blazer and narrowed his magenta eyes with murderous hunger.

“With pleasure.”

The weasel shook and rocked in a final bid for his life, but in the end it was all but fruitful.

“No, no! W-wait! Wai- **AGHH!** ”

The wolf shot forward it’s jaw and with an iron grip, latched it around the weasel’s throat. Within seconds, the mute’s body ceased in its struggles. The wolf released the weasel and turned around with blood-covered teeth and fur, eyes fixated directly towards the telescope structure.

“Now...for our new prey. I believe it is evaluation time.” the white blazered wolf exclaimed excitedly, the light from the outside moon glinting against his glasses.

“And don’t make us count. Coming out now would do you a _whooole_ lot better. Trust me.” the black-blazered mute wolf warned as he rubbed away at the blood-stained fur of his chin.

The jig was up.

They’d been caught. And no amount of waiting would change that. So Piercer chose to reveal himself first, arrow trained between the four wolves that blocked their only chance of escape. Knox joined suit soon after.

“Hey...you’re...” one of the other mute wolves started. They paused for a moment’s thought before she snapped a finger and growled. “I knew your scents were familiar. You’re both part of that posse we chased awhile back!”

Something clicked in Knox’s head. And as he looked to his rat companion, he could tell that he wasn’t the only one that felt the familiar pull of remembrance.

Back in the heavy downpour.

Not long after they had found their old hideout had burned down by unknown means.

The wolves that chased them through the blinding rain before managing to evade their sights.

Knox had choked on his words, but Piercer made up plenty in his place.

“Let us through, or two of you isn’t going to make it out of this room alive. Three if I have an extra second.” Piercer’s threat was elaborated by the drawback of his bowstring, arrow at the ready. It cycled amongst the four turtlenecked wolves.

One of the wolves growled lowly, resisting the urge to move forward and out of line of her alpha.

“I’d like to see you try, ratboy.”

“Enough, Megan.” the wolf in the white blazer took a step forward but halted as Piercer mirrored his step. The wolf raised an eyebrow as the rat mute glowered him on. “I implore you to stand down. I really wouldn’t bet on believing we’re the only wolves here.”

After keeping the wolf’s unfaltering gaze, Piercer slowly lowered his bow.

“Absolutely splendid! Now...let us introduce ourselves...”

The two standout wolves grew in closer with wide smirks plastered on their faces.

“I’m Good Billions.” the first wolf revealed, straightening his glasses again through habit.

“And I’m Bad Billions.” the second mute gave out.

“And we’re...” they both said in unison.

There was a brief pause before Bad Billions broke it.

“Ha! Did ya expect us to finish it together? We’re the Newton Wolves...” Bad Billions clasped his hands together as his eyes hungrily observed his cornered guests. “Now...explain why the hell the prey we’ve been chasing popped up inside of our observatory.”

Knox didn’t hesitate to step forward. He caught the growls of the other Newton Wolves as he zipped open and reached inside his backpack. “Oh, calm down...” he told them as he pulled out a book. “We came here for this...a book of science.”

Good and Bad Billions looked at each other and wordlessly. Bad Billions approached and snatched the book from Knox’s hands. He scanned the cover. “ _Of Stars And Things._..huh...forgot that one was back here.”

Good Billions snapped to one of the Newton lackies and pointed out the door. "I need you to bring back some restraints for our science thieves here. Rope will do just fine."

* * *

  
“This is all your fault.” Knox said to Piercer as he tried again in vain to free himself from the ropes that bound his wrists.

Piercer looked at him incredulously.

“How!?”

“I dunno. Just is.”

“Quiet, you two.” Good Billions ordered. He stood in front of them with his arms behind his back. “We have a test for you. Normally, we’d just eat you and call it a day. Maybe experiment a bit before...but you seem to be creatures in the pursuit of knowledge. And well...that’s the only reason you both are still breathing.”

“So...the test?” Knox smiled nervously as the two Billions store down at him with a knowing look.

“You have ten seconds to give us ten things of interest that you know.” Good Billions said as he revealed a worn-down timer in his hands. “You surpass the time limit, and my fellow pack will eat you both alive where you are.”

Knox took in a deep, unconcentrated breath and readied himself for failure. What kind of ‘things of interest’ did he need to say? What if it wasn’t enough? Did it have to be science-related? He had no time to answer these questions as Good Billions clicked the timer button. The ticking began.

“Start.” Bad Billions said simply.

Knox swam for ideas in his head. The first one came out.

“Um...there are more ways to arrange a deck of cards than there are atoms on Earth?” Knox told the wolves, yearning for some kind of evaluation. The two Billions nodded their heads.

The ticks of the timer came and went, and through the encouraging motivation to not die a horrible death, Knox barreled through distant remembrance of intriguing facts like a knife through cake.

“...and bubble gum does NOT stay in your stomach for several years after you swallow it, that’s just a myth!” Knox finished just as the timer went out.

“My, my. Impressive. Death can be quite the motivator...shame though. I was going to take my time with you.” Good Billions had somewhat of a disappointed look on his face as he and his brother turned to Piercer.

“You’re turn, you little lab rat.” Bad Billions spoke with a smirk.

Piercer growled and snapped his teeth at the Newton wolf. “What’d you call me, star boy?”

Unflinching, Bad Billions motioned for the timer and started it himself.

“Ten seconds, _rat nose_.”

Knox looked worriedly at the Archerat as he continued to glare into Bad Billions’ eyes defiantly.

“This is fucking stupid.” Piercer said out loud as the Billions’ sharp teeth began to show.

“ _Eight_ seconds.” Bad Billions said with a sneer.

Knox widened his eyes. “Dude, now’s not the time for pettiness! If you don’t do this, we’re dead! We’re not beating them!”

“Six seconds, ha ha.” Billions was salivating through his teeth.

“Dude!” Knox shouted, still unsuccessful at gaining the rat’s attention.

“Five...fou-”

“The term “archery” comes from the human Latin word “arcus”, which means bow. We rats as a species have been proven to have great memory. A "moonbow" is a rainbow that happens at night. When a person dies, their sense of hearing is the final thing to go. Lightning can in fact strike the same place twice. You can't die of 'old age', only from diseases brought on by old age. "I Am" is the shortest complete sentence in the the English language. Hummingbirds are the only animals able to fly backward. Earth is the only place in the known universe confirmed to host life. A year on Earth lasts just over 365 days. And wolves can’t climb worth shit.” Piercer finished rapid-fire succession.

“...Zero...” Bad Billions muttered silently just as Piercer finished, glowering at the rat in frustration. “Show off...”

“That last one wasn’t exactly a fact...” Good Billions said through gritted teeth.

“Still got the other ten, didn’t I?”

Silence followed Piercer mocking words as the two Billions circled the double trespassers.

Knox twisted his wrists inside the ropes that tied them together, eying the hungry-looking mute wolves as they grew in uncomfortably close. “So, uh...about your end of the deal? Since we did what you asked?”

Billions and Billions laughed as they gripped the ropes around their captives’ bound hands and began cutting them free.

“Relax...we’re aren’t just wolves of science. We’re also wolves of our word.” Good Billions ensured as the wolves freed them.

Knox stretched out his wrists and gave the two co-alphas a long look.

“Our weapons, too?” Knox asked.

“Of course...you’re going to need them out there...probably sooner than you think.” Bad Billions gave Knox a look that he really didn’t like. Even in the heat of the current situation, it felt...off.

Knox grabbed his knife from one of the many other Newton Wolves that surrounded them. One mute wolf gave Piercer his bow. As Piercer reached for his quiver full of arrows, Bad Billions stepped in between and picked it up himself. Before Piercer could say anything, the wolf snapped one of them in half.

“You know...I know we’ve met before on much more discreet terms...back in the rainstorm. But your scents seem...oddly familiar to something a certain something given us to compare with.” Bad Billions told the two as he took out a second bow, snapping it as well.

“The hell are you on about now? Stop snapping my arrows and let us be on our-” Piercer was cut off by a sharp snap of Bad Billion’s jaw just in front of Piercer’s snout. He continued with a sadistic grin.

“This ‘ _something_ ’...I’m sure it looks familiar.” the gray-furred alpha claimed as he reached into his inner coat pocket and slowly revealed a sharp object from underneath.

Knox’s eyes widened as he caught it’s full form, but straightened his face soon after. But it was too late. The two Billions had already caught the expression.

“This knife was used to pierce the neck of a poor ol’ double-headed flamingo back at a place called Ratland. You know anything about that?” Good Billions imputed. The looks the two wolves were giving Knox and Piercer made it abundantly clear that this wasn’t just a question. It was a test.

Knox exhaled and clenched his knife tightly.

“It belongs to my friend. Those flamingos attacked us first, and our friend had every right to defend herself.” Knox told the Billions’ in a low tone as he hovered the knife in front of them. “And that friend is a long, long ways from here. So you’re not rolling anymore dice with us.”

Good Billions nodded to one the Newton lackeys. “Nova...please open the front doors for our guests.”

The Newton wolf wordlessly passed by Knox and Piercer, but not before Knox caught the heterochromia in the mute’s eyes. One was a distinct aqua blue as opposed to the other’s original magenta. The human couldn’t help but notice them before the mute met the doors and gripped the handles, pulling them out to reveal potential freedom.

But of course, he and Piercer knew it was going to be far from that simple. Not after what the Billions' had just revealed.

“The only reason we’re not dragging you off to Scarlemange right now is our fairness. Your interests and acknowledgments in the sciences hasn’t gone unnoticed...so we’re giving you a head start to run. And when we catch you...we’ll make you tell us everything you know about your...friend.” Good Billions’ voice was clear and concise, but it was clearer that he was struggling to hold himself back.

But there it was again.

The name that was following Knox from a distance, haunting them ever since they entered the Las Vistas district. Only now, the name was right at their doorstep. A name that Piercer was all too familiar with.

“You take me to Scarlemange, and I’ll put that dagger right where it rightfully belongs.” the Archerat seethed through his teeth.

“Oh?” Bad Billions met with Piercer nose-to-nose. “And where would that be?”

Piercer smiled briefly before his face grew darker with a deep frown.

“In that filthy monkey’s cranium.” Piercer concluded.

The Newton wolves all growled dangerously at the rat and human as Bad Billions back-stepped slowly away from Piercer with a sly smile snaking across his face. “You have ten seconds to run. You both better prey you're just as fast as your answers.” he told Knox and Piercer as they began backing up.

“Ten.” Good Billions started.

Knox and Piercer had already turned and sprinted towards the door that led back into the dark of the night. They got what they needed. All they had to do was make it back to Lensvile.

Every step wasted was a step that led them closer to both failure and a painful demise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending Song: [Woodkid - Run Boy Run](https://youtu.be/upgAIOsipLA)


	9. EP 9: Bigger Than Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hunt is on for Knox and Piercer's capture. A Newton Wolf gets the upper hand and Knox fights to survive...again. Moral and philosophical motives are questioned and given in return. Time left for returning to Lensvile with the science book is dangerously running out.

The moon was hidden by the gray clouds overhead in the dark of the night. It was barred from laying witness to the family of wolves that traversed through the pouring rain.

A hand rested against the top of a younger wolf as her eyes arose from their distant stare at the wet grass underneath them.

“Is everything alright, dear?”

The younger wolf immediately met with the voice’s owner, giving a forced smile.

“Yeah. We have to be. Right?”

A small frown appeared and formed into a grin just a swiftly as it had appeared. Lightning crackled the sky and a roar of thunder followed.

“It’s okay to not be. As long as we keep moving forward. We can talk about your worries later. How’s that?”

The small wolf nodded and continued her stare to her side.

A brief moment passed before the young wolf’s ears perked up again.

“You want to know something?” the adult wolf asked.

“Yeah?”

“I truly believe you and your brothers are much braver than me. You _all_ are the reason I’m able to keep going. You’re all much stronger than you think yourselves to be. Whenever your doubts creep in, just remember that. Even when I’m gone. Okay, Margot?” 

  
“Okay, mother...thanks.”

* * *

  
The howls of the Newton Wolves echoed throughout the night as the drizzle rained lightly upon Knox and Piercer. Rainclouds had snuck in while they were preoccupied with looting science books and it didn’t help that they blocked out most of the moon’s light. Well, at least for Knox. Piercer’s night vision had proved vital for him once again.

“Just keep following my voice. We’ll be outta this in no time.” Piercer told his partner as they dashed through the forest and whizzed past the multiple trees that greeted them through it.

Despite Knox’s long-withstanding experience with surviving on the surface, the human was beginning to lose his quarrel with the worries that longed to enter him.

 _‘What if we don’t make it back?’_ Knox relayed through his mind as the bitterness slowly took effect. _‘What if they catch us? What if they do to us like those wolves did to Kassie and Bradley-’_

Knox stopped himself internally. Gritting his teeth, he frowned and his feet pounded the grassy terrain below him and a much faster rate, surpassing Piercer as he picked up the pace.

“We’re getting closer, prey!” one of the Newton Wolves called out, which Knox recognized to be Bad Billions.

And Bad Billions was right.

Knox and Piercer snuck a quick glance behind them to find the wolves gaining closer and more ambitious in their hunt for their targets. Even as they bobbed and weaved around the trees, the Newton Wolves continued to find themselves ahead in the race for their blood.

Piercer’s eyes scanned the ground with lightning speed and took every second to gather the straightest sticks he could find. He found himself missing a few but gathering enough as he pulled his bow from around his shoulder.

“What are you doing?” Knox asked with bated breath as the Archerat stuck all but one stick in his quiver pouch. Piercer drew the stick against the bowstring and aimed behind him.

“Doing what I do best.” Piercer replied as he gathered a full breath of air and focused. He narrowed his eyes and wavered his bow around at the congregation of pursuing wolves until he felt his heart flutter. Then he let the stick cut through the rain. 

Piercer smiled deviously as he heard a yelp cry out behind him. He readied another one and continued his creative attempts to slow their chasers down but frowned as his makeshift arrows were eventually spent. A couple of wolves had recoiled and fell behind to hold their eyes and snouts in pain, but this only made the remaining bunch much more angrier than before. Their prey was fighting back, and they didn’t like that. Not one bit.

“You’re only delaying the inevitable! Just give yourselves up and we’ll be sure to be easy on one of you. Scarlemange wants humans alive, so if you don’t struggle we’ll be sure to send you packaged nice and ready!” Good Billions shouted out behind them.

“I think I’ll pass!” Knox replied as he store Piercer in the eyes. “Piercer, we won’t lose them. Their too fast. Listen to me. There’s no time. I need you to escape and lose them through the trees. You’re good at that, and there’s no way they’ll get to you. I can draw-”

Piercer immediately shot down the idea. “We’re not separating again! The Megabunny that chased us before? That was on _me!_ I caused that! And I promised Kara I would bring you-”

“Piercer!” Knox said sharply, his expression hardened into that of extreme seriousness. “Please. Trust me. I am _going_ to get out of it.” The human’s expression softened with a wide smile. “Once I lose them, I’ll circle back around. We’ll find each other again before you know it.”

Piercer remained wide-eyed until he turned back to find the Newton Wolves dangerously close. He re-met sights on his friend before he nodded. Knox hurriedly took off his book bag and tossed it to the rat mute and gestured him off. “Keep it safe until we meet again. That’s _two_ things I can’t wait to get back.”

Piercer clenched his eyes shut before opening them abruptly, turning towards a nearby tree and dashing up the trunk, disappearing into the leaves. A few wolves stopped at the base and surrounded it as the remaining few continued their bid to stop Knox.

Now he had to play his own part.

“Ha! Big mistake leaving your archer behind! Keep running and we might have to rake a few claws against some human skin. Just a _little_. Cause you’re really starting to piss us all off!” Bad Billions said as he began to laugh viciously.

Knox panicked as the howls and growls grew in much closer. They were now practically on his heels. He had to think fast. He would _not_ get caught. Not after everything. His eyes scanned around until he found something that gave him a slight glimmer of hope. Even through the darkness, a long, thick branch stuck out not far in front of him. He had only moments to act before he passed by it. He slid against the muddy ground and gripped it with one hand before immediately slinging it behind him.

Bad Billions was leading the forefront and never had the time to fully react.

An sharp shout escaped the co-alpha as he collided with the remaining wolves behind him. They all collapsed into a heap, leaving Knox time to escape their eyes. If he continued running, they would eventually tire him out. He had to hide. Taking mental notes from their previous encounter, he remembered that covering himself with mud would throw off his scent trail, but he had no time. Now approaching a plethora of overgrown bushes, he mentally swore as he dived into them and held his breath. His hand was clasped tightly around his nose and mouth as he awaited for their approach.

“Brother, you shouldn’t continue. I can take it from-” Good Billions was cut off by his brother as he watched him stumble forward with a bloodied hand against his left eye.

“No...no, I can practically _feel_ him. He’s around here somewhere.” Bad Billions said through clenched canines as he lifted his snout to the branches and leaves above as the rain grew a bit more aggressive. He removed his hand from his eye and revealed a cut that traversed across it, leaving it clenched closed not fully by choice.

A sudden rage overtook the partially-blinded Newton Wolf as he bellowed out his fury. “Come on out you _f-cking insect!_ I know you’re still around, and if you don’t reveal yourself I’ll make you feel _real_ pain...and I’ll-”

Bad Billions paused himself. One of his ears twitched back and fourth.

And then his smile began to slowly form once again.

Bad Billions looked to his brother and nodded his head in a particular direction. Good billions got the memo as he watched his brother walk beside the various nearby bushes.

“Since we already know you’re close, I’ll humor you with some wordplay...” Bad Billions offered with a chuckle. “Tell me what you think.”

Knox watched in a frozen posture as the the co-alpha walked along the group of large bushes not far from him. He ripped open the first one as he began his taunt.

“The chances of escape are one and one million, so why attempt it in the presence of the Billions?” He started, pulling open another bush. He turned and tried one adjacent to him.

“Scream, run, hide, attack...the Newton Wolves will never cease to be right on your back!” Bad Billions finished with a snarl as he tore apart the bushes extremely close to where he resided.

“So far from home, but not far from us. We’ll find you afraid, that you can surely trust.” Bad Billions added as he growled, digging his hands through a bush directly next to where Knox was hiding.

Good Billions watched on, visibly pleased by the theatrics.  
“Ooh, ooh! Not bad, brother! Rarely hear you rhyme far outside of the realm of science.”

Knox pulled his knife and gripped it tight, ready for what would soon come next. He already knew the Billions were screwing around. Bad Billions had finally stopped in front of his place of temporary asylum.

Bad Billions leaned in close to the bush, revealing his teeth with a wide grin.

“Come on out, pal. I swear I’ll use just one claw. One claw against that eye of yours to repay what you di-oh _shit!_ ”

Bad Billions flinched back at the right moment as Knox’s knife swished out of the bushes and across where his neck one resided. Knox burrowed through the other side of the bushes and quickly found a steep drop awaiting him.

“Enough of this!” a voice called angrily out of sight.

Everything happened faster than Knox had time for. A Newton wolf came barreling through the bushes and straight into Knox, effectively sending them both over the hidden cliff. The pain of contacting hard against the side of the rock cliff hadn’t yet fully registered. Everything spiraled until they were both submerged into the depths of the water below.

* * *

  
Knox was the first to re-emerge.

He gasped for air as he began swimming for nearby land. The lighting now decorating the sky above didn’t help matters. A down-pouring of rain accompanied it as the brewing storm grew worse. He had the Newton Wolf that tackled him on his mind but no time to check if it was still after him. He just needed to get away as fast as possible. The human pulled himself out of the water and just before his last leg left, something gripped it from below.

Knox let out a surprised shout as he watched the Newton Wolf’s head finally emerge with a unfriendly grin plastered on it’s face.

The heterochromatic eyes gave it’s identity away.

“Let go, furball!” Knox yelled as he desperately kicked away the wolf’s grip on him. He managed get to both feet and made a break for it. It was only then he realized he had lost his knife in the chaos after grabbing at his knife sheath to find nothing was there.

“Get back here, punk! I didn’t get my fur drenched for nothing!” Nova called out behind him. The Newton Wolf found herself out of the water, but as her left leg met the ground, she immediately collapsed. Nova let out a howl of pain as she came to a startling revelation.

Her ankle was dislocated in the fall.

Knox ignored the frustrated demands and continued to put foot to ground. He was unaware of how tired he really was and his side ached horribly. However, it wasn’t the pain that made him stop in place.

It was the shaking of the ground and an ear-piercing screech. The human turned around in an instant.

In front of the helpless wolf was a very long, orange and pink mute worm that had shot out of the body of water. And it had teeth. Lots of them. The Newton Wolf was no longer prioritized with Knox. Her eyes went wide with fear and froze at the monstrous sight, stuck in apprehension on whether limping away or staying still was the better option.

Knox grit his teeth and turned away, eying his guaranteed escape through the underpass of what was a concrete bridge. But a memory shot straight through his thoughts and stopped him once again.

**_“Knox...” Lute store him straight into the eyes. “We need to be alive to save Kara. Of course we do...but doing the right thing shouldn’t be a thing of the past. No matter what. She would've done the same thing.”_ **

Knox sighed exhaustively.

“Damn you, conscious!” Knox exclaimed as he looked around desperately in his mind for a plan.

He chastised himself for putting himself in jeopardy for someone clearly had no qualms with biting his face off if given the chance and reason. But the guilt wasn’t worth it. Even if he was clearly not in the blame with just leaving all together. His brain lit up as he caught eyes on a rusted sign leaning close by. He gripped it with both hands and pulled at it, falling to the ground with it in hand at the unexpected ease.

The mute worm raised it’s head at the vulnerable Newton Wolf and readied to strike as the wolf growled with her teeth bared and eyes narrowed in defiance. Nova apparently accepted her fate, but not without spite.

“Hey, _wormhead!_ ”

The call brought the attention of both the bloodthirsty worm and mute wolf towards Knox. He threw up the middle fingers of both hands proudly at the towering worm as he smiled widely.

“Come get some, jerkweed! You’re not the first large snake I’ve dealt with!” Knox taunted before picking the long sign pole up and backing up as the worm pondered it’s target. Having made up it’s mind, the worm opened it jaws and screeched as it shot towards Knox’s position. The human cursed under his breath and disappeared behind the bushes once again.

He peeked through to find the worm getting closer. He took in a deep breath and drew the pole sign back. Just as it’s head stuck through the leafy bush, Knox swung it with all his might. The flat end of the sign landed with a mighty and audible smack against the drooling worms face, sending it twirling back and briefly stunned.

Nova watched on in disbelief as the human emerged from cover and swung the sign a second and third time, sending the worm into a maddening, disorientated rage. Knox wasn’t fast enough to evade the tail end of the worm as it sent him flying back into the water with a splash. The mute worm followed him under.

A great thrashing ensued and the Newton Wolf watched on in agonizing tension, wondering what would become of her when the hungry and disturbed worm came back when it was done.

But the unexpected happened.

The worm's head shot back out of the water and thrashed about as it swam away down the river, shrieking in pain as it disappeared further down the stream. Knox broke through to the surface and gasped for more air.

“Victory! Sweet, _stupid_ victory!” the human exclaimed to the sky. His newly-found knife was held high above him.

He climbed out of the deep stream for the second time and stood above the Newton Wolf.

“Heh, you _really_ threw away escape, risked death and fought off a giant mute worm just so you could get dibs on me yourself? You must be insane.” the wolf told him with a pained chuckle. Her eyes shifted quickly to the blade in the human’s hand and back to his eyes. “Well? Get it over with. I’m not one for theatrics, _worm hunter_.”

Knox smiled incredulously through the pouring rain. “That’s " _really_ " all you got out of that?” He instead re-sheathed the knife and held out a helping hand to the Newton Wolf. “I’m just doing the right thing. I could, so I did. And your leg is obviously injured...”

Knox looked to find a small cave nearby.

“I’ll just take you to that cave over there. Then you’ll never see me again... _hopefully_. Your angry science friends should find you here shortly. It’s just a gesture towards the idea that maybe humans and mutes don’t need to always try and kill each other. My friends help to remind me of that.”

The Newton Wolf scoffed lowly and store deeply at the human before slowly giving out her hand. Knox reached to meet it, but the wolf suddenly shot forward with her jaws opened wide.

Knox panicked as the mute wolf’s teeth clamped around his right arm. A sheering pain shot through it and caused him to shout out as he fell with the Newton Wolf to the wet ground.

“Stop!” Knox told her. The wolf responded by biting down harder, breaking the skin.

“Please! Don’t do this! You don’t have to!” Knox relayed again, trying to keep his cool.

The Newton Wolf’s heterochromatic eyes seemed to shimmer before she finally resolved to let go.

Knox breathed heavily and got to his feet.  
“Oow!?” the human expressed as he gripped his arm and glared at the conflicted wolf.

“Why in the hell would you believe such a _stupid_ concept!?” the mute wolf yelled, attempting to stand, but failing to bring her hurt leg to cooperate. She instead fell onto her back and growled. “You’re a naïve surface dweller and nothing more. I mean how can you be so _stupid_ to trust me after you watched our pack alphas **murder that weasel right in front of you!?** ”

The words hit a deep chord in Knox’s heart. She _did_ have a point. But then he remembered why he saved her in the first place. He lowered his head and clenched his fist.

“I wasn’t always like this.” Knox started gloomily. “In fact, I was the opposite. For a long time, I didn’t trust mutes as far as I could run without stopping. But...” Knox looked the mute wolf square in the eyes with solid resolve once more. “The people I’ve met along the way shaped me into a better person. The world can’t always be like this, but if we don’t stick our necks out to try then it’ll remain the same bitter place it is now.”

Knox extended his hurting arm and offered his hand for the second time. He paused to say one final thing.

“This is bigger than us.”

Nova was left with a choice to make again. She frowned deeply in the rain as the human’s unwavering hand remained suspended for her to take. Her pupils contracted as lighting struck close by.

She took his hand.

Knock brung her arm around his shoulder and lead her to the cave. After laying her gently against the rocky wall inside, he backed up.

“I seriously wish I would just stop having _‘wolf’_ , _‘falling’_ and _‘water’_ come together all the time.” Knox joked to himself, leaving Nova confused for what he meant.

“What’s you’re name again? Isn’t it Nova? I mean, I get it...supernova...the whole science getup...” Knox stopped speaking as the Newton Wolf glowered at him. “I’m going to go check something real quick.”

The human made sure there were no unwelcome inhabitants hiding within the small confines.

“You should be fine. Just tell your friends we’re not worth it. We’ll be long gone by the time you all recuperate yourselves. Take care, I guess.” Knox stretched out his arm and blew out air through his lips as he made way to leave the cave.

“You keep trying to save people and eventually it’s all going to come crashing down on you.” Nova told Knox, making him stop just outside of safety from the rain.

The human turned around with an acknowledging grin.

“Yeah. I know. But it’s all part of the weight of living.” he replied before turning back and disappearing out of sight.

* * *

The rain didn’t seem to want to let up.

In fact, it was getting much worse. The rain fell from the sky like liquid bullets as she waited in the darkness of the cave. Luckily for her, she wouldn’t have to for any longer.

_“Nova? Nova, can you hear me? It’s us!”_

Nova’s ears perked as he aimed to stand herself up, but declined herself the unnecessary hassle of further worsening her leg.

“I’m in here! Look for a cave opening!” Nova screamed back as loud as she could.

The outside rain was loud, but a mute wolf’s hearing was not to be underestimated. Nova’s heart leaped with relief and relaxed to the sight of Good Billions hastening inside of the cave. A breath of closure left his mouth as he hurried to her side.

“It’s just my leg. It’s not broken...just dislocated, I think.” Nova told him as her co-alpha lifted her up, careful not to hurt her further.

“Did you catch where the human went?” Good Billions looked into Nova’s eyes with a focused look. She knew he cared for her completely, but the hungry look of desprativity for an answer didn’t fly past her.

“No...no I just had enough energy to get here. He was gone before I could really tell.”

Good Billions continued his gaze into her eyes.

“Alright. Let’s get you back to the observatory.” Good Billions inched her forth as they neared the cave exit.

“Oh...and Nova?”

The Newton Wolf looked to her co-alpha, already aware of her sin. 

“Yes?”

Good Billions looked at her through his wet glasses and gave her a smile. And not the straightforward and friendly kind.

“Do refrain from such rash actions again, unless it is ordered of your alphas. _Understand?_ ”

Nova shuttered inside at the worded discipline, but she hid it behind a simple nod.

“Yes sir.”

* * *

Knox muttered grouchily as he attempted to climb the wet and grassy incline to reach the road that resided just above him. His bitten arm didn’t help speed the process up much, but he still managed to make his way to the top.

An arm suddenly reached over the side as a familiar friend made his presence known.

Piercer had an outstretched hand out to Knox as he smiled.

“Welcome back, my friend.”

Knox smiled back and took it gratefully.

* * *

  
Kara and Lute watched on as Devland swung Knox’s katana back and fourth in slow motions before checking his watch.

“It’s 11:52 till midnight. Not much time left.” Devland said with a obnoxiously simplistic tone of voice.

Lute tapped his foot against the wet ground as he rolled his eyes up to the retreating storm clouds above him.  
“Yeah...we _know_ that already.”

Devland’s smug grin quickly morphed away as a shout from the front gate’s guard rang out.

“The human and the archer rat are back!” the squirrel mute shouted down at Devland.

Kara exhaled a chuckle, running for the gate with Lute following behind. Devland grinded his teeth and slowly walked after them.

The gate opened and Kara wasted no time hugging Knox and giving Piercer a noogie against the top of his head.  
“I knew you could both do it!”

“Let’s not rush to emotional conclusions.” Devland walked past Kara and Lute before stopping in front of the two returnees.

“Do you have-”

“Here ya go.” Knox happily interrupted, already digging inside his dampened book bag and handing him the science book. “Of Stars And Things. I’m sure it’s a great read, but I was too busy trying to live to read it.”

Devland took his time studying the cover and flipping through the pages before slowly looking back up.

Knox stepped up and looked him straight into his eyes.  
“Now...my sword? I missed it dearly.” he asked of him, refusing to hide the expression of pure victory that he gave off.

Devland pulled the katana’s edge out of the ground and re-sheathed it, slowly handing it to him.

Knox gripped the scabbard and took the blade back out, kissing the steel blade lovingly.

“I missed you, baby.”

The reunited group’s eyes were now all on Devland as he stood in silence.

“You can tour us around tomorrow morning. I’m super exhausted.” Piercer said, breaking the silence and walking past Devland before looking back. “Kara, mind showing me to the nearest towel? I’m just as wet as the ground is right now.”

Kara laughed and guided him forth. “Yeah...you look like a grey, wet doormat."

Devland waved a hand weakly at the large gate.  
“Isn't this what you worked for? Why are you still out here? Please... _do enjoy your stay_.” he said to Knox, lacking any genuine excitement.

Knox didn’t hesitate to comply with the earned invitation. His heart burned brightly on the inside.

He restrapped the katana around his shoulder and walked through the large gated community doors into a whole other world of it’s own.

A world they had fought hand and claw to find.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending Song: [Samurai Champloo - Battlecry](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTIL6c2eB_4)


	10. EP 10:  Here’s Not Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wolf and her foster mother Cecilia come together and live in peace. But sometimes, things are too good to be true.

Two figures sat before the beautiful lake in the woods not far from their old home, one larger than the other.

“It feels kinda like a nostalgic dream...being out here in front of the lake so early...”

The adult mute wolf looked to the young human and ran a hand through her frizzy hair, which prompted the human to look up and meet with the wolf’s magenta-hued eyes.

“I know, Jolene...”

Jolene paused in her gaze and then brought it back down to her feet.

Seeing this, she didn’t fail to catch her foster child’s minute fretting. The alpha mom sighed a long sigh before resting a hand within the other.

“I’m deeply, _deeply_ sorry for how we treated you when we first met. I was a bit... _cold_ and _distant_. But I’m not the same person that I was so many years ago. I should’ve told you about my past experiences with humans. It almost...shaped me into the same monster I thought all humans were..."

The wolf tried to say something else. No words came out.

“We all have troubles. And it carries on until someone puts a stop to it...and that usually starts with yourself.” Jolene replied to try and assure her. “Those humans you said refused to help you when you and Alphonso needed it? That’s what helped stir your hate...your hatred for humans. But you have to keep it all behind you...” Jolene folded her arms and continued staring past the old lake.

Cecilia waited a few seconds before scooting herself closer to the human and wrapping an arm around her. She pulled Jolene closer until her head rested against her shoulder.

“I never thought I’d see the day...” Cecilia told the human as she smiled at the body of water.

“See what day?” Jolene asked.

The mute wolf grinned.

“The day where a wolf and a human would get along like this. I’m glad to have found myself wrong about that.”

Cecilia rested a hand on Jolene’s shoulder before getting up fully to her feet.

“C’mon, let’s get back to home. Your packmates are definitely up by now.”

* * *

  
The alpha mother’s eyes shot wide open in the dead of the night as the door to her bedroom opened in a rush.

“Cecilia! It’s Jolene, she’s gone!” her husband relayed it a panicked voice.

A smaller wolf popped out from behind her alpha father with a few tears beginning to streak down her eyes.

“I-she...must’ve left right after me and Jack fell asleep. I’m sorry I didn’t...I didn’t...”

Cecilia arose from her bed and wrapped her arms around her child. They met eye-to-eye.

“Margot, none of this is your fault. She most likely snuck out to get extra training hours in. Let me go out and look for her. Just relax yourself in your room, okay?”

“* _sniff_ *...okay.”

As Margot slowly reentered her room, Cecilia’s husband gave her a concerned look.

“You should let me go instead.” he offered. “Better yet, we can both-”

“No.”

Cecilia’s serious expression melted into one of easiness. She cupped her hands against her husband’s cheeks.

“Alphonso...someone has to stay behind to watch over the kids...make sure they’re safe. I won’t be long. I swear.” the alpha mother assured. Her magenta eyes cut deep into his.

Sighing in defeat, Alphonso nodded.

“Okay.”

* * *

Jolene awoke with a startled gasp.

Her head was throbbing with pain. It was extremely dark and as her eyes adjusted to what they could, she registered two forms behind her as her body was pulled against the leafy floor of a forest.

She was being dragged.

“So what’s the full plan of action, exactly?” a voice asked gruffly.

“Once they figure out she’s gone, it’ll be too late. They’ll-”

The dragging stopped.

“Did you hear that?” one of the unknown assailants asked it’s partner.

The furred hands that gripped Jolene’s shirt collar had finally let her go, leaving her head to hit the soft and leafy ground below her. It was then that Jolene found the courage to look at her kidnappers.

They were mute wolves.

“Come on out, you coward! I know your hiding.”

Nothing but silence and a slight breeze against the leaves below and above.

Until something whirred from behind a tree fairly far away. By the time it was noticed, it was too late.

The rock connected hard against one of the wolves, causing him to immediately clutch his head in pain.  
“Son of a _bitch!_ Shit!”

The second mute wolf looked on with teeth bared at the shadowy figure that revealed itself right after. The form became clearer and clearer the closer it’s paced footsteps brought it until it’s identity was revealed in a conveniently placed light that the moon gifted through the forest of trees.

“Cecilia!” Jolene exclaimed, earning a sharp growl from the wolves that stole her away.

“You! Dammit, looks like we weren’t fast enough, ha ha.” one of the human-thieving wolves said with a chuckle.

The rock-stricken wolf had finally regained it’s composure and straightened out his leather jacket in agitation, teeth shown on full display with a wide grin towards the figure in the moonlight.

“Cecilia, Cecilia, Cecilia. It’s been a long while. How have you been?” the mute wolf asked with a fake, excited tone.

Cecilia removed herself from the moonlight and continued forward with a deep frown, her form becoming nearly invisible to Jolene as her foster mother rejoined the surrounding darkness.

“It’s me, Ty!” the wolf thief introduced as he brought out his sharp knife from his sheathe. “My buddy here is Flint. And _you_ owe us a human.”

“You should have never have trespassed before.” Cecilia let out a deep growl. A deep growl Jolene had never heard from her alpha before. “And you’ll _never_ trespass again.”

Ty slung his knife-wielding arm back and charged straight for her.  
“Oh yeah?”

Cecilia stood stagnant and bold as a statue as the wolf in the leather jacket dashed straight for her with the full intent of ending her life.

Jolene watched on helplessly as Flint joined in after his own alpha with nail bat in hand.

Cecilia waited until Ty swung before ducking under the swoosh of the blade. Bringing a clenched fist up square against his jaw, the mother wasted no time slamming a fist down against the top of his head. Ty slumped to the ground, disoriented. 

The alpha mom’s eyes shot beside her and caught sights on the approaching bat. The alpha mother leaned back as it swung dangerously close to her. Flint let out a roar of anger as Cecilia danced round his second swing and pushed him into the tree in front of them. His head met the hard bark with a solid thud. Flint slid down the tree and before he met the ground, Cecilia gripped his shirt and yanked him away, leaving Ty at her mercy.

“Wait-” Ty managed to weakly say before Cecilia gripped him by his shirt collar and slammed him against the tree.

She kicked away Ty’s knife and gripped both hands around his neck while she gazed hauntingly into his eyes. The pressure of her hands increased around Ty’s throat as he scrambled his hands against Cecilia’s face, desperate to pry himself away from her. No amount of his pleading would cease her growing attempts at silencing him forever.

Accept for one thing.

“Mother!”

The familiar call halted Cecilia in her tracks.

She craned her neck to the side and found Jolene a few feet way, drowning in her tears. 

“ _Please_...don’t kill him. Just send him away...I promise not to sneak out again...” Jolene offered shakily, wiping away the continuously streaming tears from her face.

Cecilia’s murderous expression eased on sight of the poor girl’s pleading form as she muttered something under her breath. 

The alpha wolf met with Ty’s wide and terror-stricken eyes once more. She leaned in until they were snout to snout and she began to speak through tightly clenched canines.

“Listen and listen very, _very_ , **_very_ **closely. And do not miss _one_ word. If I find you, your pack, or any one even remotely associated with you come through our territory again...” Cecilia brung her mouth to the side of his head and finalized a whisper into his ear.

“I’ll make you bleed out for years, and years, and _years_ before I let you die. I’ll make you wish you were dead before you even _met_ me.”

Cecelia punctuated her claim by grabbing his head and slamming it against the tree behind them. rendering him unconscious along with his fellow pack pal.

The alpha mother breathed in heavy breaths of seething anger that remained before she looked upon a frightened Jolene. Then all of it melted away.

Cecilia wasted no time running up to the wide-eyed human child and wrapping her up in a loving hug. The mute wolf held her close and let the human bury her teary face into her jacket.

_Jolene’s heart had eased it’s thumping. Her headache had disappeared like magic._

“You don’t need to apologize, Jolene. I already understand. Just please...please don’t scare me like this again.”

Jolene smiled through the slowly receding tears.

“I love you.”

Cecilia smiled as tears of her own followed just as Jolene’s had begun to retire.

“I love you too, darling.”

* * *

Around the brown, wooden table were many different faces.

_Wolves._

_A pig._

_Humans._

_And...whatever Dave was._

Cecilia set the last cup of blueberry tea down on the dinner table as she joined her husband Alphonso into a seat beside him.

“It’s wonderful of you to have introduced us to your friends, Jolene! We’re more than welcome to have given them refuge here, at least for the short time they need.” the Alpha mom snickered as Dave put back down his cup after being tempted to gulp it down whole.

“Heh, yeah if it wasn’t for Joley, we would have been Megamute mini meals!” the larvae mute exclaimed.

Jolene’s eye twitched.  
“For the last time, Dave...it’s not _Joley_...it’s Jolene.”

Dave looked wide-eyed at the human blankly before picking up his blueberry tea.  
“Whoops. Sorry. Again.”

“Anyways...this is **_Davey_**...”

“Hey!” Dave shouted.

“...and this is Benson. That’s Mandu, and she’s Kipo.” Jolene finished.

“Woah...” Margot was mesmerized by Kipo’s pink hair. “Love your hair color.”

Kipo almost melted in her seat.

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, thank you! And your blue fur is awesome! You’re whole family’s blue fur is awesome!” Kipo complimented as Jolene gritted her teeth in embarrassment, gesturing with her hands as she tried without words to tell her to calm down.

But Cecilia and Alphonso simply laughed along with her wolf children. Friendly smiles grew across their faces.

Composing herself, Cecilia raised her cup of blueberry tea, signifying a toast.

“It’s been a pleasure meeting all of you. Here’s to the future. A future were humans and mutes can one day come together in peace. A peace that my precious children have helped to remind me is still possible. Especially you, Jolene...” the alpha mom gave her a warm look as she returned it to everyone else.

“To a better future!” Cecilia exclaimed with her drink held high.

Everyone else followed along, with the exception of Mandu, who simply squealed.

  
“To a better future!”

  
Jolene brung her drink back down to her lips and readied to drink.

But as her eyes drifted back to mother alpha....

Her eyes widened.

**_Something was hidden within Cecilia’s pink jacket_**. It stuck out almost like a sore thumb now that she paid enough attention. It was a white envelope. Jolene shook her head. She clenched her teeth tightly.

**_A white envelope._ **

**_With a pink Aries symbol._ **

Wolf felt as if her eyes would pop out of their sockets....but then another, much stronger feeling took it’s place.

_Realization._

_**Lucid** realization._

A bellowing rage filled Jolene’s heart.

Throwing her cup to the side, the blue tea was left to splatter onto the floor as Jolene climbed the table and bounded towards Cecilia. Everyone was too shocked to react before she slammed straight into the alpha mother.

Cecilia fell back in her chair as the Aries envelope fell out of her jacket. Jolene straddled her and landed her first punch against the alpha wolf’s face.

“Jolene, stop! What are you-” Cecilia never got to finish as the second punch silenced her.

“You’re a _monster!_ You haven’t changed! You’re a liar! A _LIAR!_ ” Jolene told her with a tripling anger.

“This isn’t real!” Jolene screamed as she continued her rabid assault.

Despite her friend’s calls for her to stop.

Despite Margot and the rest of the young wolves pleading for her to stop.

She continued regardless.

“None of this!” Jolene screamed, tears falling down her face.

“ ** _NONE OF THIS IS REAL!_** ”

* * *

_Wolf’s final punch was what broke the illusion._

She awoke with a madly racing heart.

The ten year old raised her head from the wet ground beneath her. Her mind was still spinning, and she clenched and re-opened her eyes at the world around her to make sure she was truly in control. Eventually, her thoughts gathered. She looked all around her and connected herself back to reality before bringing her eyes upon the towering water tardigrade that was left suspended in disbelief in her successful escape from her dream prison.

Mulholland.

“H-how did you-” 

The death glare that Wolf gave Mulholland stopped his words flat.

She wasted no time running to her friend’s sleeping forms, shaking them until they stirred and praying it wasn’t too late.

“Hmmm...huh?” Kipo slowly drew open her eyes. “Jolene...Jolene, is that you? W-why did you do that to-”

“None of it was real. Just forget it, okay? We need to leave now.” Wolf ordered, helping her up to her feet.

Wolf and Kipo did the same for Mandu, Dave and Benson before an angry shout met their eardrums from behind.

“YOU WON’T ESCAPE! I’VE WORKED TOO HARD FOR THIS!” Mulholland cried out to them in a heated anger.

“GET BACK HERE! YOU CAN’T _LEAAVE!_ ”

They had no qualms with ignoring his voice. Wolf and her group ran and ran and ran through the closest forest until they were finally met with an end that led to a bridge crossing.

“Alright...alright, I think we’re cool.” Benson said through his desperate gasps for lost air.

“’ _Think_ ’ isn’t enough.” Wolf replied, walking past him and pointing her deathstalker pole further down. “Let’s cross and find someplace to rest.”

* * *

The gray wolf cloak held up by the wooden stick in the ground.

It was Wolf’s primary focus as she absent-mindlessly listened to Kipo and her friends discussing the next plan next to her. The campfire kept them warm, but it’s effect seemed to past through Wolf’s mind.

Everything that was that gray wolf cloak had occupied her mind.

The empty, magenta eyes seemed to stare back through her very soul.

“Hey, Wolfie? You with us?”

Wolf shot her head back around to Kipo, sporting a wide smile.  
“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. Just tired...”

A little too wide for Kipo.

The pearly purple-skinned human got up and drew herself closer. Worry was written all over her face. Wolf’s smile had all but disappeared by the time she got close.

“Anything you wanna talk about? I mean, we just nearly got eaten by a giant water mute that creates dreams based on...our memories...” Kipo only managed to make Wolf retreat even more. Still, Kipo’s smile never faltered.

“Anything, Wolf. We’re all here for each other. Right?”

Wolf’s eyes opened as pieces of her dream flashed through..

  
_**Something was hidden within Cecilia’s pink jacket.** _

_**A white envelope.** _

_**With a pink Aries symbol.** _

  
The same envelope that Wolf was now reaching for.

She couldn’t hide any it longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending Song: [Radiohead - There There ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2aH-sluR5s)
> 
> Finally! Glad to bring the Kipo gang back into the limelight. They'll play vital parts in the future for sure. ;)


	11. EP 11: What Happens In Lensvile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Knox and his crew are shown around Lensvile. The community leader gives the group the strict rundown. After a rather unexpected face shows, Knox is left to explain the situation.

_“What happens after we die?”_

_Knox looked up at his father with curious glee for an expected answer. The question stopped his dad and caused him to roll his eyes over in a brief bout of thought. Then he folded._

_“Aha, you got me.” Knox’s father said with a slight chuckle, crouching down to his height. He stared caringly into his son’s eyes and his smile widened._

_“It’s not really for me to tell you. When you’re older, you’ll be able to put the pieces together for yourself a lot easier.” Knox’s dad straightened his legs and turned halfway away before giving him a wide grin._

_“But if you want my thoughts, I believe our life energy returns back to mother nature.” Knox’s father slid a finger and thumb down the lining of his white lab coat and tapped the folder clasped to the clipboard in his hand._

_“I’ll see you later, champ. Daddy’s got work to do.”_

* * *

Knox’s eyes slowly opened up to the bright morning sun’s light.

An instinctual yawn followed suit as he stretched out his body and groggily arose from the bed he found rest upon through the night. After rubbing his eyes, Knox’s mind immediately snapped to the one of the few things that had always gotten his first attention.

His katana.

The sword laid restfully in it’s red saya scabbard against the wall closest to his bed, awaiting for it’s service to be of use once more.

It was another reminder of their victory.

Somehow, despite the odds, he and Piercer had made it back safe thanks to the miracle of spotting the Las Vistas science observatory after hours of tired searching. Even more of a miracle they had escaped those dorky Newton wolves that resided there...but now that the Lensvile community was officially their home, all that was left was to understand how it all operated.

Knox gripped the katana and slowly slid it out of it’s case. The sun’s light reflected beautifully as it gave the blade’s edge a heavenly glow.

“I helped take down a dictatorial mute snake with this sword, heh heh...” Knox reminded himself with a self-humoring chuckle while admiring his withstanding and longtime weapon of choice.

His feet lowered and touched the carpeted floor. Taking in a deep breath, he walked up to his book bag and checked through to take inventory in case he left anything he might need. He opened up the many compartments, leading himself closer to the conclusion that he was all set. He opened one of the last couple that were left.

His eyes went wide.

Inside one of the side compartments pressed against the bottom was a long, ripped piece of purple cloth.

Knox’s jaw was left to fall open as an unexpected and painful reminder of his past quickly gnawed into his mind.

  
_Knox looked into Kessie’s dead, empty eyes as Elias gripped his shoulder from behind._

_“C’mon...let’s...let’s bury them. More mutes might have picked up on us...”_

_Knox slowly turned to barely meet the young human’s eyes. Elias was gripping his deceased brother’s lute tightly and shifting his sights elsewhere around him, paranoid of his own claim. A very, very plausible claim._

_So Knox did was was on his mind._

_He gently lifted Kessie’s head and removed the purple scarf from her neck. Elias watched in confusion as Knox picked up his katana and ripped through the cloth, leaving him with what he wanted._

_“What are you doing?” Elias asked with a slight pang of puzzlement._

_Knox wordlessly wrapped the lengthy, purple cloth around the hilt of his blade, tying it into a firm knot and securing it._

_He looked to Elias and sighed a broken sigh._

_“Making another reminder for myself of who else I’m fighting for. So I don’t forget.”_

  
Knox’s hands began to shake as he held the purple cloth in his hand.

Images of blood and sharp fangs overcasted his brain.

The sharp fangs of _**wolves**_.

The cloth was gripped tightly as Knox spun to retrieve his katana and re-tie the purple cloth around his blade’s hilt once again. The first time in _eight years_. He had forgotten why he had even taken it off. Maybe he had thought he had escaped something. But clearly the cloth was a reminder that he hadn’t like he thought he did.

Instead of mounting it on the nails he hammered into the wall earlier in the night as a makeshift mounting piece, he strapped his sword around his shoulder and made way out of his room.

Knox’s foot met the last step back down to the first floor and found Kara and Lute both sitting around the kitchen counter with Piercer choosing to lean against the wall nearby.

“Holding secret meetings without me now, huh?” Knox quipped lightly as he approached the conversation.

Kara tapped the counter top.  
“Just didn’t want to interrupt your beauty sleep. You’ve been through a lot yesterday.”

“I mean, I’m seriously not wrapping my head around what you said in your groggy reply last night.” Lute added. “Wolves obsessed with science and wearing turtlenecks nearly ate you and Piercer? I gotta see that for myself sometime.” Lute paused as everyone laid eyes on him weirdly. It was then that Lute realized what it sounded like.

“No, I meant the Newton wolves, not seeing you both get...okay, whatever.” Lute looked away as they all chuckled.

“So, what are we talking about? Mind catching me up? Or is this a ‘ _is there going to be lots of food and buffets?_ ’ kind of conversation?” Knox asked with jest before leaning into the counter, joining the bunch.

“Well...” Kara began. “The whole Scarlemange ordeal you and Piercer told us. If he was given the buck knife that I had used on one of those two-head flamingos, and then had those Newton Wolves to watch out for us...there’s a huge possibility they’ll be scouting us all out for a long while. We’ve gotta be ready for something like that.”

Knox side-glanced and nodded his head.

“We were also actually discussing what exactly we’ll be doing in Lensvile.” Kara added in.

“What do you mean?”

Kara got up from her stool and stepped closer before resting an arm against the counter opposite of Knox.  
“Devland had us go on a treasure hunt to prove our usefulness. Nice. But that can’t be it. There’s got to be some kind of system to how this place is still intact. Are there group runs to go out and bring stuff back? Do they have sources outside that bring stuff in? This place is looking way to much like how it all must’ve been two hundred years ago.”

Knox paused and quickly took in the group’s musings.  
“You’ve got a good point. I mean, I was thinking the same way yesterday. Guess we’re gonna-”

**Knock knock knock knock knock**

Knox and the group all turned towards the front door. Lute immediately got up jogged over to check it.

Piercer couldn’t help but grip his bag of arrows. His ears began to twitch.

Knox couldn’t put any blame towards him, as he caught his own hand after it was sent resting against the back end of his sheath.

Looking through the peephole, he turned back towards everyone.

“It’s some guy. A human.”. Lute relayed as he slowly unlocked the door and revealed the person behind.

The human stood straight in front of their house’s door. He was a rather broad and tall male with a noticeable scar running across the side of his face. His mohawk-like hair stood distinct along with his camo-green pants.

“Morning.” the human greeted. “My name is Peke. I’m one of Mr. Devland’s associates instructed with showing you around Lensvile to get you familiar with the in’s and out’s. Am I too early?”

Lute paused only to look back to his friends with an unsure expression.

It was Kara that filled in for him.  
“Uh...yeah, just give us a few minutes. We’ll be right out to meet you.”

The human now understood as Peke nodded and stepped back, leaning against the brick wall beside the door as it closed, leaving them in their own privacy once more. Kara sighed and knocked a quick beat against the counter with her knuckles.

“Everyone ready? I’m itching to get this over with. We need more answers.” Kara got up and walked towards the door, ready to face the sun.

“Yeah,” Piercer pushed himself off of the wall and followed suit. “But I’m keeping these.” Piercer added, straightening his arrow pouch and bow. “Don’t trust this guy. Don’t trust this place. At least not yet.”

Kara narrowed her eyes exhaustively at the Archerat, not bothering to put up an argument.  
“Ugh, fine...”

But Kara’s eyes widened in surprise as he caught Knox gripping the side of his saya, which held his precious katana. “You too, Knox? Hey, I get it. You fought hard out there to get that sword back...but we need to at least show that we’re at ease here.”

Kara had anticipated a witty remark, but her expectations were hardly met.

“All of this could still be some kind of entrapment. Piercer’s not that far off in his suspicions.” Knox brought forth. “Besides...this Devland guy irks me the wrong way, too. I’m sure you feel the same. This is for safe measures to show we aren’t simple, desperate newcomers.” Knox held down a serious expression as he opened the door for Kara and Piercer. Kara stood in place for a short moment before passing him by.

“Alright...but I already lost my precious buck knife. And I’m not replacing it with some random kitchen knife to bring around with me.” Kara responded as she went through the door without a weapon.

Lute held up the house key and gripped the door.  
“I’ll lock it.” he offered, strapping his lute instrument around his shoulder and leaving Knox to smile and let go.

As Knox turned, Lute happened to meet sights on his katana.

That’s when he caught eyes on the purple cloth that was tied around his sword’s hilt.

Lute paused and left the key halfway inside of the door.

He felt a deep, penetrating void in his stomach that took it’s merry time growing. A long, deep breath filled his lungs and then shakily released. Still, the void remained.

The door clicked locked.

* * *

The morning sun had reigned supreme once again, overshadowing the rainy events that had happened the night before. It helped symbolize the start of a new chapter as Knox, Piercer, Kara and Lute were led around Lensvile and greeted to the numerous facilities, and community members. And they were met with open arms all along the way, finding interests in the various roles some key persons played in the town. From blacksmiths to clothing tailors, it seemed so far they were in good hands with any needs. 

“We have another social worker around, but she must be really busy at this hour. Her name is Mrs. Mudiwa. She works as the community therapist and she’s also a helluva cook!” Peke noted to them, as he guided them down the pavement road past the multiple townhouses and towards what seemed to be the biggest townhouse of them all in the center.

“This is the main office. It’s Where Devland resides...” Peke revealed. “He instructed me to take you to him so he can relay the ground rules of the community...”

As they approached the building, Knox spotted another human sitting on top of one the brick of a nearby house with his arms folded. Watching them. Knox and the human gave each other long looks as they passed. The then human brushed a hand through his short, blond and rugged hair before he put his feet back on solid ground and made way back inside of his house.

Peke caught the interaction and slowed down a bit.  
“Oh, that’s just Shaun. He got here around the time this place officially became Mr. Devland’s community. Bit of a recluse to most of us and a little dense, but I wouldn’t mind him too much.” Peke suddenly brought full attention to Knox and Piercer, who wore their weapons like a badge of honor out in front of him. “Got a reason to fear us?”

“We don’t mean to intimidate. We just got here and...it’s just for habit’s sake.” Knox replied, failing to meet his escort’s eyes.

“Alright...let’s get you to the boss-man.”

* * *

“We only have a few days before he returns! If we don’t double the load for him, we’re screwed...do you understand, Sophia?”

The chameleon mute stood at attention, nodding her head in understanding.

“Yes. I understand. I’ll go back with Pete. We’ll find more. We will.”

Devland clenched the edge of his desk before easing himself back in his chair.  
“Good. His raise in demands hasn’t made things any better. I feel he’s slowly breaking his promises to us. We’ll need to dig _deep_ this week and-”

A sudden succession of patterned knocks resonated against Devland’s office door, prompting him to sit upright rather quickly.

The community leader pinched the bridge of his nose and waved Sophia off.

“Open the door for our newcomers. You are dismissed.” Devland told her.

Sophia griped the doorknob with her long, purple tail, not bothering to put the effort in the normal way. The creaking was silent as Knox and his small pose were revealed. She slid past the four, eying them analytically before disappearing around the corner. Peke saluted a hand towards the group as he followed behind Sophia, leaving them alone.

Devland smiled and leaned forward, resting his intertwined hands against the desk.

His full attention was now on Knox’s crew. The community leader fixed his suit collar and lifted his hands in greeting.

“Welcome and glad you could make it so early. Please, all of you take a seat.”

Kara, Knox, Piercer and Lute all sat across the desk next to each other, looking on at the man that had given them solitude not long ago. Now, things we’re soon to be given clarity.

“Now, as you know...I have granted you entry into this community for your quick wits and resilience. But that was a requirement tied to outsiders. You are no longer of that description as of now. I’m sure you’ve been wondering-”

“So how did you keep Lensvile safe after all this time?”

Devland paused in his expression as Kara elbowed Knox.

“Oh, that’s a fine question. I don’t mind answering. You see...not only do we have gate guards on duty every shift, but we’re also in a rather secluded part of Las Vistas when it comes to outsiders. Despite the many homes and buildings, any troublemakers rarely come around.”

“And have any?” Knox rebounded quickly.

Devland tapped the desk and remained frigid in his seat.

“Yes. And we took care of them. One recent example tried to break in after repeated warnings and threats, and our trigger-happy gate guard Jessie shot him in the foot with an arrow. He never returned. We give chances. Just not many of them.”

Knox remained silent.

“We also have underground basements in every home to assure safety should any Mega mutes make an unwelcome appearance. Any further plans of defense go on personally between me and my close associates.” Devland finalized, eying Knox as if to challenge him for another question.

Knox instead rested his arms atop his thighs.  
“Alright...continue.”

“Now where was I? Right...” Devland stood from his chair and double his height over the four. “Now that you’re inside, I’d like to bring to your attention three simple rules. They are not to be broken. Under any circumstance.”

Knox, Kara, Piercer and Lute were all ears.

“ _One_...” Devland started, bending forward to rest his hands steadily against his desk. “You are required to help out on any scheduled scavenging tasks to resupply the needs of this community. Kids and skilled trade workers such as our fellow blacksmiths are not required. One would be unethical, and the other already contributes plenty.”

Knox and the gang nodded silently.

“ _Two_...you are to report any and every trouble to me directly if my main associates are not available. Anything that you hear having any shred of relation to this community gets relayed to me, Peke, or the lovely Sophia that has just left out. You let us know _every_ bit. That’s a key contributing factor of how this place stays intact.”

Devland grinned widely and emphasized a single word with his hands.

“Trust.”

“Right. _Trust_.” Piercer relayed right back, his magenta eyes shooting straight through the community manager.

“A very fundamental and vital word, yes.” Devland dragged his eyes from the rat mute’s arrow pouch and continued to his final rule.

“Now...rule number _three_...in relation to the second rule.”

The four all awaited the final proclamation.

“You are all under _every single_ circumstance _not_ to tell anyone of this community.”

  
Knox felt his heart flutter.

**_Knox got up and reached inside his backpack. Ripping a page from his notebook, he pulled out a pen and began jotting something down._ **

**_“I’d advise checking it out. If your interested, of course. We’re sure to be there soon. I promise you that much.”_**

Knox squeezed his fingers for the second time that week as Devland finished up.

“Anyone that arrives under the impression of being invited will not qualify for entry.” Devland returned to his chair and rolled it in close to his desk. “They must find this place on their own. It’s how we deal with transparency, overpopulation and control. You could be unknowingly recommending a merciless killer for all we know. We evaluate from the gate, not on your assumptions.” Devland sighed and got up for the second time.

“Is all of this clear? The noncompliance and or breaking of these rules will result in permanent banning from this community. And worse case scenario...you’ll end up like our poor mute friend with the arrow through his foot. Any objections?”

Devland stood stagnant as Knox and co. looked to each other and nodded.

“None.” Lute said.

“No. I’m good at keeping secrets. Like _really, really_ good.” Kara told Devland as she waved her hands out.

Piercer tapped a clawed finger against his chin.  
“Mmmmmmmm...fine.”

Knox got up and reached a shake-ready hand out to the suited human.  
“Yes. We’ll keep these rules to a T.”

Devland slowly met Knox’s hand with a hand of his own, giving him a deep smile.  
“For your sake’s you all better. But outside of that, you are all welcome here. Please roam freely. Meet more people. There’s a dinner get-together tonight as well. I hope you’ll make your appearances there too, if it fancies you all.”

Kara and Lute both got up at the same time, their hands clenched into fists in front of themselves.

“You bet it does!”  
“You bet it does!”

Kara and Lute store at each other immediately after the fact before the former looked to Devland.

“See?” Kara told him.” “We’re all on the same wavelength.”

* * *

  
The moon hung high in the air with a few passing clouds as it’s company.

Knox kicked a lone rock across the street while he was watched on by Piercer from the steps of their new home. The rat mute’s eyes watched the human diligently as Kara stepped out through the door sporting a red leather jacket comfortably in the chilly breeze of the night, leaving Lute alone inside to finish dressing up.

“Ready for the big feast, Piercy?” Kara began, poking the side of his arm.

Piercer remained unmoving.

“He’s been acting off...a bit different ever since this morning.” Piercer said in a lowly voice to her as she sat down beside him.

“Different?” she whispered back, feigning a smile to Knox and pointing towards the house door behind them as he turned towards them. “We’re just waiting on Lute. He’s almost done.”

Knox nodded wordlessly, continuing his back and forth pacing.

Kara looked back to Piercer for further explanation.  
“It’s...it’s probably nothing. Maybe I’m just reading into things too much. Let’s just-”

" **Halt there!** "

The voice that rang out belong to Jessie, the squirrel mute that regularly stood as gate guard and had met Knox and his crew at the gate first time around. Jessie voiced a few more words back and fourth with the unknown entities at the gate before turning to her gate guard companion.

“Go get Devland, and fast, Luke.” Jessie told her partner as the human leapt from the platform and began to bound down the street past Knox.

“What’s going on?” Knox shouted out as Luke dashed past him.

“We’ve got multiple outsiders at the gate! I need to alert Mr. Devland!” the human answered back in a rush.

Various other residents emerged from their houses as the loud commotion was brought their attention. Lute finally joined the call to interest and waited beside his friends.

It wasn’t long before Devland came striding back with Luke, walking as fast as he could to meet with the mystery guests. The community leader disappeared behind the cracked gate as it closed, leaving him vulnerable to whatever intentions any outsiders had for him, minus Jessie’s trained crossbow that remained aimed down behind where they couldn’t see.

“Who do you think it is?” Kara asked, keeping her eyes on the mumbling that went on out of sight behind the gates.

“I sure hope their friendly. I’m tired of using my lute to fight. It’s gonna break at some point.” Lute added with a chuckle that quickly morphed back into an observational silence.

It felt like forever. At least to Knox. He could practically hear his heart thumbing in anticipation through the silent night.

The gates began to slowly open back up again.

The silhouette of six different figures entered first.

One taller. Five much smaller than the first.

Highlighted by the moonlight, the tallest figure grew slowly closer with it’s arms wrapped around it’s sides, leading the other five in. A sky blue scarf wrapped around it’s neck. A black pencil skirt. A cobalt blue pea coat.

The figure paused just short of noticing Knox standing in the road.

Knox’s eyes slowly went wide. The mystery figure was no longer a mystery.

“C...Cecilia?” Knox called out, his expression that of disbelief.

The blue and white-coated mute wolf matched his surprise, the nervous grip on her scarf faltering as her arms were left to fall loosely to her sides. She observed and analyzed the human that stood relatively far from her.

“Knox?” the wolf called back. A wide and joyous grin spread across her face as the mute wolf dashed forward for the human. The mute wolf opened her arms and embraced Knox with a tight and energetic hug, which almost left him breathless.

“Cecilia...” Knox repeated. “It’s...nice to see you again, too.”

The mother wolf released her death hold and took a step back, cupping Knox’s cheeks and leaning in for a quick peck against his forehead as her children joined up behind her.  
“I’m glad I listened. It wasn’t safe to be home anymore...”

Knox’s smile slowly fell into a frown as he side-eyed a hastefully approaching Devland.  
“Did you...did you tell him-”

“Knox.”

The human turned fully and reluctantly towards the Lensvile’s community leader. Devland’s deeply stern expression told it all before he said anything.

“I need you _both_ at my office. Immediately. Knox...you have some _serious_ explaining to do.”

At this point, Knox just wanted things to unfold as quickly as possible.

Whatever came next, he was ready for it.

He _had_ to be. They've been through too much for it all to end so soon.

Knox took in a deep breath and nodded.

“Alright. I’ll explain everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending song: [Tame Impala - On Track](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlmpIRFeI8I)
> 
> Things are finally going to kick off soon. ;)


	12. EP 12: It Comes Back To Haunt Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Devland's chastising, Knox and Cecilia joins everyone at the community dinner party. The alpha mother finds that an unwelcome piece of her past is now present. With the weight of Knox's mistake in lying weighing over his friend's continued stay at Lensvile, his past creeps closer.

A human and wolf were seated in two chairs next to each other.

“Knox...” Devland said as he specifically store down the human from his office desk.

"Mrs. Cecilia...” he called next with an equal stare.

“Now that we have gone over the community rules with our wolf friend here...explain yourselves. Now.”

Knox sighed.

“I met her after she saved me from drowning. It was after we had left to complete your quest. I fell off a waterfall and got separated from my friends after we woke a Megabunny... _unwillingly_.”

Devland eased his frustrated and uneasy expression to let pass wider eyes.  
“So that’s what all that ruckus was about? Could hear it all from here.”

“Yes,” Knox confirmed, leaning forward. “Then Cecilia saved me. I followed to thank her, but found her later on being attacked by some jerk weasel mutes...”

Devland’s eyes lit up, but quickly narrowed back down.  
“ _Weasel mu_ \- oh never mind, please continue.”

“Right...” Knox continued on. “After I took care of them, we joined each other. She was...not exactly friendly at first, but we got used to each other.” Knox slightly laughed, halting after he caught Cecilia’s frozen eyes on him. They looked deeply into his eyes. The wolf quickly snapped her eyes back to the community leader after he started again.

“Well...” Devland got up and gripped the side of his face. “Is this all?”

“He saved me and my children by giving me those instructions.” Cecilia concluded. “I don’t believe me and my kids would have survived more than another month had he not given me a chance...please understand-”

“I understand completely.” Devland responded, unfazed by her sentimental. “What I don’t understand is why Knox withheld this information from me in our earlier meeting.”

Knox kept his eyes trained directly into Devland’s. 

“That was entirely my fault. I take full responsibility for that, and I’ll do everything I can to rectify that mistake...but I also know full well that had her kids not have been with her, you would have never let her in. I know she deserves to be here...and I didn’t want to take that risk.” Knox said, clenching his knees with his hands.

He didn’t see it, but Cecilia gave Knox a small smile.

“And here we are.” Devland turned to face away from them. “This is your last warning. Do _not_ leave me out on anything like this ever again. Or I will send you and your group away _permanently_. Including Mrs. Cecilia. Do you two understand this?”

Cecilia and Knox nodded in understanding.

“Good. I’ll remind once more that you two are to stay together in Cecilia’s new home until your scavenging task is complete. She’ll need to prove her loyalty before I give her my best in accommodating her. You are both dismissed.” Devland turned back to face them again. “And do enjoy the party. It’s to start soon.”

Devland hurried them out the officer door and shut it with a parting gesture.

What they didn’t get to see was Devland’s nervous expression manifest fully as he fell back into his chair, holding his head in worried thought.

“They can’t be the same ones.” the community leader assured himself with weak resolve. “It’s been too long since they left...but they can’t be...”

* * *

  
The mirror mirrored Kara’s reflection into itself.

Pulling her hands from the sink water, she splashed her hands against her face, washing away any possible drowsiness that might have resided. The community dinner party was not long to start, and she felt an unexplainable wave of dread wash over her. A small wave, but one enough to send her to the bathroom at the last minute.

“Don’t tell me after getting chased by Mod Frogs, captured by mute snakes and nearly beaten to death by skunks on scooter bikes that I’m suddenly getting antsy about a freaking dinner party...” Kara said to herself as she grabbed a towel and dried her face.

But deep down, she knew it wasn’t any of those things. It was something much more personal. Something she had tried to avoid. Something that was right in front of her. Brought to her attention in the mirror’s reflection was a silver chain. Her mind went blank, and her hands slowly went for the necklace half-hidden under her shirt. A finger looped around the silver chain and pulled upwards to reveal the green-hued hexagon crystal that accompanied it as it’s main centerpiece.

Kara couldn’t move.

Then everything seemed to spin.

She clenched her eyes tight and collapsed to her knees, nearly ripping the necklace off as she clenched it.

“I’m sorry Amanda...” Kara cried out as tears began to blur her vision. Her sobbing became more apparent and aggressive as she failed to pull herself up, falling back against the wall behind her. “I’m sorry....I’m sorry...”

Her sobs didn’t go unnoticed. Piercer knocked on the door repeatedly from the other side as she went on in her sudden grieving.

“Kara, are you alright? What’s wrong?” the Archerat called as he tried his best not to invade her privacy. After getting no reply, Piercer gripped the door handle and slowly revealed himself to the scene of Kara’s breakdown.

The rat mute immediately knelt down to the human’s side and laid a paw on her shoulder.  
“Kara, you have to tell me what’s-”

“I miss her...” Kara relayed to him through her broken crying. “I miss my sister. And I don’t even know if I can still believe she’s still alive.”

For so long, she and her group have been on the road in search for solitude. And practically none of it was spent grieving for their loss. The loss of a sister and friend. Piercer knew the feeling. He conjured images of he and his fellow Archerat clan on the last day he would ever see them alive again. It was jarring. He still had nightmares and hallucinations. He just didn’t tell anyone.

Piercer lifted his hand off of Kara’s shoulder and wrapped his arms carefully around her trembling form, comforting her.

“I understand.” Piercer told her softly. “I’ve lost people I love too, as you know. And I haven’t had time to grieve. At first, I tired my best to avoid it. Like I had to keep moving away from the idea to survive. Then I met you and Knox...I believe it’s time for you to finally start that process now.”

Saying nothing else, Kara responded by resting her head against his chest as Piercer welcomed her sadness, making it clear it wasn’t just her’s to bare alone.

Kara finally replied.

“I’ll try...” 

* * *

Cecilia cattled her children timidly behind Knox and Lute as they entered the large dining area of the building. There were familiar faces from earlier that Lute and Knox could make out, but the mute wolf was completely out of the loop. She and her cubs had just got here. The alpha mother grated her teeth as her presence was made known to the various humans and mutes who had gathered together. She could’ve analyzed their mixed looks all day, but ultimately, she couldn’t let her own internal judgments get the best of her. However, what she could make of all the passive expressions and side glances as they passed by was clear to her.

‘ _Wolves have never been in this community before..._ ’ Cecilia thought to herself.

“Oh! Knox and Lute, just a minute.”

The call got their attention. Just around the corner popped out another human. She was relatively tall and sported hoop earrings on each ear. Her afro was adorned with a red headband around her forehead. She waved and walked up to them with a welcome grin.

“So...you all made it!” she exclaimed joyously. “I was told their were newcomers, but unfortunately I was busy with some working matters to properly introduce myself. My name is Mudiwa. “ _Mrs._ ” Mudiwa when I’m on the job, ha ha.”

“So you’re the mysterious therapist and famed cook Devland’s assistant was talking about? Ha, nice to meet you.” Lute gave out his hand and shook hers, Knox following in suit.

“I’m guessing it was Pete?” Mudiwa replied with a raised brow. “He’s always overstating my abilities...and eating up my macaroni casserole. My assumption is he’s talking about me to everyone so he can flatter me into another plate full...but that’s just my theory.” Mudiwa jested with a chuckle.

And then Mudiwa’s eyes moved to Cecilia and her younglings. The alpha mother’s heart began to race faster, but her smile grew wider nonetheless.

“And you must be the _newer_ newcomers. Welcome to Lensvile.” 

For a brief moment, Cecilia’s mind went blank. But she caught herself. The alpha sucked in a discreet breath and built up a small momentum of confidence. Just enough to get her tongue rolling.

“S-sorry, it’s been awhile. A very long while since me or my children have been around this many people. We’re extremely grateful to be here. My name is Cecilia...and these are my children; Margot, Sebastian, Rupert, Josef and Jack.” Cecilia slowly held out her hand to shake. 

Mudiwa wasted no time meeting it. “It’s nice to meet all of you.” the therapist said, waving to the young wolves who remained within comfort behind their parent. “We’ll all get used to each other soon enough.”

The door next to Knox and Lute opened suddenly and revealed the eventual forms of Kara and Piercer.

“Sorry were late...” Kara said with a small voice.

“No worries. You must be Kara...and Piercer.” Mudiwa responded, shaking their hands respectively.

“Here, let me lead you to your tables. I made sure to keep you all seated next to each other. Mr. Devland will be here shortly to get you all properly introduced.”

Mudiwa nodded them over to the direction she began to walk. Knox and the rest unquestionably followed, Cecilia gluing her eyes forward in an attempt to dodge the growing contact of eyes that brung attention back to her from behind.

Piercer and Kara found themselves seated first with the Archerat holding her hand under the table, helping to keep her calm from her recent breakdown episode. The tables were already accommodated with refreshments and were fairly large, but as Cecilia observed the table Knox planned to join his friends at, she quickly understood that there weren’t enough spaces for her and her children. She looked over to the empty one behind her and half-smiled.

“It’s okay, we’ll just-”

Knox held up a hand, halting her turn away from his table. He turned to his group and found they were already aware of the situation.

“It’s fine, dude. You all need to catch up. Besides, we’re only, like, seven feet away, anyways.” Lute affirmed with finger guns.

Knox nodded and took a seat beside Cecilia as she and her children took seats at the round table. It was only then that he finally got to take time to speak with the mother’s kids.

“So...how’s it been? On the road to get here, I mean. You all must be exhausted.” Knox asked, pondering for a moment at the slice of bread he pulled out of the basket.

The kids all looked to each other before one rested a hand on the shoulder of Margot, the only girl of the bunch, as her eyes gradually darted down. He responded for her.

“It’s been...”

Cecilia nodded him on.  
“Please, Jack. Raise your voice...it’s okay.”

He took in a deep, exasperated breath.  
“It’s been hard. But we made it. We all...” Jack paused and clenched his eyes shut before opening them up to meet the human’s. A new-found smile spread across the wolf child’s face. “We made it. That’s all that matters.”

Knox wasn’t buying it. They were clearly here, but something else was certainty left behind. He lifted his glass of water and took a sip. “I’m glad you’re all okay. I know it wasn’t easy.”

“Sebastian tripped over a bucket and woke up a group of Deathstalker scorpions and we all almost got eaten because-ow!” the larger wolf, Rupert, gave Sebastian a narrow-eyed look as he rubbed his shoulder.

Cecilia sighed with half-lidded eyes just as a voice cut through the overall room chatter. Everyone stopped talking in the room as they laid eyes on one Devland as he finally made his presence known to everyone.

“Hello and welcome, all. I’m very pleased to have everyone present this fine night! As you know, as per ritual...this isn’t just any ordinary dinner party. This is a get-together to commence a proper warm welcome to our newest members of this wonderful community. I’d like to waste no time before the dining to bring them to the full spotlight. Please, if I could ask them to stand...”

Cecilia met eyes with Knox and he smiled in return, raising his shoulders and following the request to stand.  
“Might as well bask in the glory while we’re still fresh, right?”

Cecilia felt comfortable enough to follow behind his action, gesturing for her children to do the same. Lute, Kara and Piercer copied the actions.

The whole room was on them.

“Now...” Devland continued, raising the drink glass in his hand. “Let’s give a toast to their best here at the lovely Lensvile!”

The raising and clinking of glass from humans and mutes alike initiated all around to the newest additions to the neighborhood.

“It’s a real lucky honor for us all to be here at all. We’re thankful for everything really.” Knox spoke up, mirroring the gesture with a glass of his own. “Looking forward to doing our part. I speak for all of us on that. Cheers.”

And with that, the friendly congregation all pursued after Knox’s action in downing their drinks.

“Thanks for that. Didn’t know what the hell I was going to say.” Kara admitted with a shrug.

Giving Lute and Kara fistbumps, Knox sat back down with Cecilia as they were finally served a full plate. The human took a firm stab at the fried carrots and took a bite. The wolf children (minus Margot) wasted no time in their attempt to ravage the dinner plates, but a disciplinary stern look from their mother stopped them in their tracks.

A sigh left Cecilia’s mouth and her sights floated around the room until something caught her eye through the many different bodies and forms present.

Another human with messy and short blonde hair had hawk eyes on her from across the room.

There was something undeniable about this man. Something...hauntingly familiar.

Cecilia’s eyes shifted back and fourth with this particular human. Despite looking away and secretly shifting them back discretely to check, the man’s gaze remained fixated on her. Even as the cheerful commotion died down and everyone went eating to their own business.

Then it clicked. It clicked in the way she had hoped it never would have.

  
_**NOT SAFE** _

The alpha mother’s body immediately seized up.

_**WOLVES HERE** _

“No...” Cecilia whispered under her breath, clenching her teeth.

_**WAIT UNTIL MORNING** _

  
The mother wolf clenched and unclenched her clawed hands and abruptly got up. Looking to a confused Knox, she smiled down to him.

“I’m making way to the nearest restroom. Need to wash my face.” Cecilia told him simply as she caught eyes with her children next. “I’ll be right back.”

The mute wolf didn’t have to check back to know who had mirrored her action. The dinner knife she had secretly snuck inside her pea jacket went unnoticed as she slipped into the bathroom.

Cecilia’s magenta-hued eyes met back as she found herself in the reflection of the slightly-worn mirror.

She waited. She waited for the inevitable. She could feel it through the chills that ran over her fur. And her ears picked up the confirmation through a pair of particular footsteps.

Her eyes narrowed as the door to the bathroom slowly creaked open behind her. Steps were present against the tiled floor until a figure popped up in her peripheral vision in front of another sink beside hers. The sink cut on and water streamed out as the person gathered a handful.

“Small world, no doubt.” the man said as he coated his face with a splash of sink water. 

Cecilia didn’t reply. Her gaze into the mirror at herself only hardened.

“It’s been about five years and even from far across a large room, I can still recognize remnants of those poisonously condescending eyes.”

Cecilia still didn’t meet eyes with the human, even as she felt them beam at her unmoving form.

“The name is Shaun. Never got the chance to tell you while your mate was choking me near half-to death with the blood of my friend all over y-”

“Enough.” Cecilia just barely stifled a growl. Her teeth felt as if they would finally shatter under the pressure she was clenching them. “That was long ago. Perhaps this is more karma at it’s work. But you are not absolved of your sins, either. Your “ _friends_ ” were the cause of their own fates. And just barely brung you along with them. You should have left my family alone. And you will not be of any further trouble to me. _Leave it at that_.”

The alpha mother slipped past a grinning Shaun and as she gripped door handle to leave...

“So where _is_ your husband?”

Cecilia stopped in her tracks as her hand tightened around the handle of the door. It began to jitter with anger.

“Didn’t see him at your table. Did he croak before you got here? Or was it-”

Shaun never got to finish before the bathroom door slammed behind the wolf.

* * *

It was as dark as it was before when the get-together came to it’s end. Knox led the way as he walked slowly down the street back to their housing.

“So...you and Cecilia are supposed to go back out there square in the morning, right?” Kara asked as they stopped.

Knox nodded and looked at the pavement.  
“Yeah. We meet at Devland’s office for the task square in the morning, yeah. We don’t know what it is yet though...” Knox sighed. “Hey, listen...I’m sorry. I’m sorry for not telling you about inviting Cecilia. I never clarified that back out when we found each other again before coming here. I should have back when Devland first-”

“It’s cool. Really, I understand. You were unsure if it would have disqualified her immediately had he known you told her to come here before.” Lute budded in with a smile.

Piercer shrugged in agreement.  
“I honestly would’ve done the same. And I _still_ don’t trust Devland.”

“Does his many suits rub you the wrong way, or something?” Kara replied with a chuckle.

Piercer narrowed his eyes, indicating seriousness.  
“Don’t tell me you all don’t either.” Piercer said this just as Cecilia and her children caught up fully with the group.

Kara lowered her eyes. “Yeah, okay...I don’t either. I don’t think any of us really do yet. But the people here seem genuine. Let’s just tone the passive hostile thinking down a bit until further notice.”

Knox turned away from the conversation to meet directly with Cecilia and her young ones. He failed to keep in a sigh and gave his friends a tired look. “Okay, it’s time to recharge for the big day tomorrow. I’ll have to stay with Cecilia in her own place tonight and until we come back from Devland’s assignment.”

Kara stifled a surprised look and nodded.  
“Right...well, good luck in advance. I’m sure this’ll be a doozie.”

Knox waved his pals off as he joined the alpha mother by her side and up the steps to her assigned house. Her children predictably all rushed inside before them. All accept for Margot, who remained by her mother’s leg. Her mom laid a hand on her head and looked down to her. 

“It’s okay. Take a look inside. Get used to it. We’re all going to be here for a while.”

Pondering the advice, Margot slowly made way inside after her brothers, with Cecilia and Knox not far behind.

The layout was the same as Knox and his group’s assigned house, accept for a few different placements of furniture. It was relatively dark, but the moon and a few candles helped alleviate this. Jack, Josef and Rupert all stood and argued on who would stay with who, but the score was settled by Cecilia as she stood authoritatively in front of them, her size towering over their forms.

“Since you all can’t come to a solidified agreement, I shall choose for you. Josef, Rupert and Sebastian will take this one and Jack and Margot will join each other in the next. Same arrangement as usual.”

Jack mumbled under his breath before complying.

However, Margot simply giggled.  
“Splendid!” she said in a mockingly joyous tone. “Now I have someone to share my extensive knowledge of flowers with _all day!_ ”

With all children but Jack satisfied, they went through their rooms and closed the doors, leaving Cecilia and Knox alone.

“I guess were heading upstairs then?” Knox guessed satirically as he waved both hands to the stairs. “M’lady...” 

Cecilia laughed lightly.  
“Don’t mind if I do.”

Once the second floor met them, they were met with two rooms. One directly in front of the stairs and one further down the hall. Knox pointed to the one further away and gripped the strap of his katana case.

“Whelp, I guess I’ll see you in the morn-”

“Knox...could you...sleep with me tonight?” Cecilia interjected with her eyes briefly darting to the ground.

A slight blush overtook Knox, but he tried his best to hide the unexpected shock of the request. Thankfully for Knox, he didn’t have to ask why.

“It’s been a long journey and I don’t...I don’t feel safe, that’s all...just for tonight until the morning is all I’m asking. I mean, don’t feel like you have to either.” Cecilia gripped one of her arms as Knox looked into her eyes.

The human felt a slight feeling of apprehension pass over him as he stared frozen at the slits in the alpha mom’s eyes.. He held back the urge to glance at the purple cloth that remained tied around his long blade.

“That’s...fine with me...but I’m sleeping on the _very edge_ of the bed.”

* * *

Knox and Cecilia situated themselves on the bed of the room, sleeping opposite sides of each other. The human couldn’t bring his eyes off of his katana, which laid on the nightstand next to him. He couldn’t stop staring at that cloth that remained tied to his sword and his conscious.

“Those hyenas came back, Knox.”

The human shifted to the alpha mother to find her staring at the ceiling.

“They came back awhile after you left and they tied me and my family up...they killed my friend. And I killed them in return. I just...wanted you to know.” Cecilia closed her eyes and turned to face opposite of him.

Knox took in the new information, dragging his eyes away from the wolf.

“...oh.” Knox replied simply. “If you ever feel you need to, Ms. Mudiwa’s therapy talk is always an option. You can let out anything you feel your comfortable with to her. I believe I need to do the same at some point as well.

Getting no response, Knox took his own turn in staring up at the ceiling. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to get this stupid task done and we’ll try our best to get things straight. I promise.”

“Okay.” was all the human got back.

And the pull of the weight of everything the day had loaded on to him was what eventually pulled Knox into a deep sleep.

_“Elias! Elias? Where are you?”_

_Knox held his unsheathed katana by his side as his eyes darted around in panic. The trees surrounded him with their colossal size present to his every step._

_“You see...”_

_Knox turned to his right just in time to meet a rather familiar form tied to a tree not to far off._

_Bound to it was a wolf blinded in both eyes._

_The exact one that murdered Kessie and Bradley._

_Knox clenched his teeth and raised his voice so that it echoed._

_“Come out you coward! So I can do the same I did to him to you!”_

_“This was no wolf...” a voice monotonously responded as the originator revealed itself from behind the same tree._

_“He was a mere dog...and dog’s deserve to be put down.”_

_The voice belonged to a wolf mute of pitch black fur. It hovered it’s sharp claws against the throat of the blinded and struggling mute wolf before he slowly dragged them across his neck, giving him an agonizing exit form his life._

_Before Knox knew it, multiple wolves gradually revealed themselves around him, finding one was restraining his lost friend._

_“Elias! Let him go right n-”_

_Knox was interrupted as the black-furred wolf stepped forward with unrushed steps._

_“I’m about to show you what a real wolf looks like.” the mute wolf told him with a hauntingly wide grin. “And I believe I’m staring right at him.”_

_Knox gripped his katana tight and charged forward with maddened eyes._

Knox awoke to reality as the nightmarish rendition of his past finally came to a halt.

But this time, he didn’t awake with a shout. He merely took another quick glance at the still-sleeping form of Cecilia.

His apprehension only grew. He felt that if he turned back around, she would-

“No...” Knox whispered as he forced himself to lay his katana off the nightstand and on the floor, out of sight.

“No...” Knox repeated to himself as he clenched his eyes shut and forced himself to return to sleep, regardless of what other past horrors lay in wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if things seem to drag. Gotta set the stage for what comes next.
> 
> Also...this chapter was long AF. Hope ya'll don't mind. Trying to live up to the whole "episode" shtick X)


	13. EP 13: Testaments and Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jamack finds himself back on the road again after delivering the human to Scarlemange from his encounter with the Ratland owners. A human makes an escape from familiar assailants and he and his Mod frog crew join the pursuit. Jamack makes an unexpected decision.

Jamack stood amongst his Mod Frogs in the large ball court in anticipation while his gaze followed Scarlemange as he spoke on. With the mandrill mute’s arms crossed behind his back, he finally turned directly towards them again. A glint of skepticism and optimism mixed together into something ultimately unreadable as Jamack tried in vain to observe so.

“Even though your human-catching ethics are rather impressive...bringing back only one human this time around is disappointing to say the least. But alas, low points are a part of the game, I guess...oh, and speaking of games!” Scarlemange pipped up ecstatically at the approaching human whose face remained twisted with an unshakable glee underneath the mask she wore over it.

A glee that Jamack knew full well was not by choice.

And thanks to him, this was her fate.

 _Elise's_ fate.

In the human’s hands was a tray with a single glass of fresh lemonade, ready for the taking. _Scarlemange’s_ taking, of course.

“Why, don’t mind if I do.” the mandrill voiced as he sipped down half of it’s contents, punctuating a satisfied sigh. 

A moment of satisfaction, a moment of the Mod Frogs awaiting in awkward silence, and a moment of thought before Scarlemange came to again.“Right! That other thing...what was the _other_ thing you were going to inform me of?”

Jamack felt an elbow dig into his side and met with the eyes of Harris as he wordlessly nodded his head towards the mandrill. Well _red-eyes_ certainly wasn’t gonna tell him.

“Right. Well...you see, back at...where we found this human...”

Scarlemange sat the glass of lemonade back down and store deeply into Jamack’s eyes. They didn’t blink, nor did they move.

“Jamack...if you’re going to tell me something big...be _very_ , _very_ clear and concise about it.” Scarlemange took a step closer to the Mod Frogs as he shooed the human away. “Tell me now.”

Jamack watched behind the mandrill as Elise’s form disappeared behind the dining hall doors. His teeth clenched behind his lips. He would have to break his promise to them. Something he rarely did, because he made sure in trying his absolute best to never put himself in a position to lie. It bred the possibility of owing someone back. Well... _whoops_.

“We found that human in the van of the Ratland owners. Amy and Brad. We believe they...have been smuggling and giving other humans sanctuary.” Jamack revealed.

The whole ball room was left to silence as Scarlemange remained stagnant in his gaze. Then he smiled. Then he laughed. The mandrill laughed until he gradually slowed down into an exaggerated sigh of what seemed to be comical relief.

“I honest-to-mute thought you were going to say one of your own **_died_ **or something, ha! As for the brave little Ratland rats...I’m hardly surprised. I’ve actually been given some confirmation of this after my flamingo riders so graciously gifted me with something that no doubt belonged to a human.” Scarlemange turned away and retracted away towards the stairs to the second floor. “The Newton Wolves have also relayed to me that they’ve recently had a run-in with the owner’s human friends...knowing wolves, they _probably_ let them go for some stupid hunt and lost them _that_ way...but I digress! I’ll deal with Ratland. You all just keep reeling in the humans.”

As Mrs. Sartori took the lead back outside, Jamack felt a pressure lift off his mind.

But some piece of it refused to leave. Jamack couldn’t quite place what it was.

And he _really_ hated that.

* * *

The engine to the black car revved on gently as Jamack’s foot pressed slightly against the gas pedal. He found his intense and unmoving look at the long road stretched in front of him finally break as his mind suddenly called him to look at the still bright evening sky. The sun was a welcoming sight to behold, given the earlier storm that had passed by a couple days earlier. He never took the proper time to observe the ever-omniscient ball of fire in the sky.

“I just want us to be on the same page, Harris.” Jamack said as his eyes remained steady ahead. “I understand why you did what you did. To that human. Rush-of-the-moment action. He had a knife.”

Quiet followed, but Jamack could tell a pair of red eyes were now on him, if they weren’t already.

“I know.” was what Jamack got back.

The stretch of road never seemed to end.

A balled fist was raised opposite of Jamack’s driving hand and left suspended next to him.  
“I’ve got your back. No matter what.” Jamack proclaimed simply.

“We gotta get along anyways, otherwise we _all_ end up dead.” Harris stated as Jamack finally found his gaze briefly leave the front window. The same time Harris’ fist met with his own.

Jamack followed up with a nod.

But Jamack’s vision met back with the road too soon to notice the small figure that fled across it from behind a nearby building.

“Watch out!” Harris shouted as Jamack automatically stomped the breaks, swerving just in time to spare everyone a a gruesome sight. The tires slid against the pavement as Jamack did his best to correct the imbalance in control, quickly assessing they weren’t going to be on the road for very long.

“Hold on!” Jamack commanded as their vehicle veered off into the grass and bumped boldly into power line pole, sending the airbags out in reaction.

Everything was a disoriented mess, but Jamack pushed through it and reached for his pocket knife. He deflated his airbag with it and as it decreased it’s pressure against him, he found room and concentration to speak.

“Everyone alright?” Jamack called out as he looked to his fellow Mod frogs, already getting his confirmation.

“Yeah, yeah.” Harris confirmed, fighting comically with an airbag of his own.

“We’re fine, but the _hell_ was that?” their newest Mod frog, Brody, asked while Kwat easily handled the airbags of his and hers alike.

Jamack raced to look out his side window. His eyes caught the cloaked form of the culprit dash just out of sight down an incline and into the nearby broken city. “Someone that needs to be taught a lesson for crossing the street without looking.”

As Jamack swung the drivers side door open, three more figures dashed out across the street. But it wasn’t lost on him or any of the Mod frogs about who they were. Their colorful jackets and helmets gave them away immediately.

“Goddamn Scooter Skunks...” Harris muttered as he met with Jamack outside of the car.

The last of the three Scooter Skunks turned attention to the Mod frogs just before she disappeared behind the slope. “I wouldn’t trail us if I were you, froggies. This human is ours! Keep moving and get lost!” the skunk mute yelled out as she continued after her group.

 _Human_.

It’s all Jamack needed to hear. 

Jamack slammed the car door and waved Harris over. Looking through the back window, he addressed the newest recruit.

“Brody, you're with us. Kwat, watch the car. We’ll deal with the biker punks. And we’re bringing back the prize. If we’re not back by sunset, head back to our territory. You’ll find us there eventually.”

Kwat nodded wordlessly as Jamack, Harris and Brody rushed down towards the city and after their newest goal.

* * *

Jamack and Harris’s feet pounded against the grassy ground before they slid down the slope to the underpass.

By the time the Mod frogs had caught up, they found the cloaked human already surrounded by the Scooter Skunks.

“C’mon kid, just give yourself up and everything will be fine!” the leader, Loretta, offered whilst swinging her arms out, the rusted pipe in her right hand arching with them.

The human youth only stepped back, pausing and gripping her purple cloak in remembrance of the Scooter Skunk that was behind her. Jamack observed one arm still within it and assumed she must be clutching something against her chest. It remained hidden under her cloak.

“AHEM!”

The Scooter Skunks brought their full attention to the Mod frogs who stood at the other end of the underpass. Jamack stepped forward and outstretched arms of his own. His usual smile of confidence went on full display as he and his two frogs followed suit. Harris gave out a practice swing with his nail bat as Jamack stopped not to short of skunks.

“I believe you biker scoundrels know very well about our rather impressive human count. You really think we’re gonna let you just-”

“Enough talk!” Loretta interrupted, pointing behind her at the trapped human. “We found em’ fair and square. Now unless you want a pipe to the face, I’d advise turning around. _Right. Now_.”

Brody was fed up. The Mod frog took a solid step forward, eying directly at the Scooter Skunk that remained behind the human.

“Look, just give us the damn human! We don’t got time for th-”

_***whistle*** _

Brody stopped and shot his eyes towards the origin of the whistle only to find his vision go white briefly as the force of a thrown lug wrench met him square against his forehead. The Scooter skunk that launched it let out a hardy laugh in response.

“Yeeoowch!” Brody cried as he stumbled back and tripped over a nearby worn down tire, clutching the top of his head in pain as he fell.

Apparently on the same wavelength, Jamack and Harris dashed forward together in retaliation. Leaping into the air, Jamack rotated his form before shooting out his tongue. But it wasn’t after any Scooter Skunk. It diverted and instead got hold of the thrown lug wrench, shooting it at the skunk mute residing behind the human. Barely missing, the brief distraction was enough to resend his tongue around the same skunk as his feet met the ground. The human teen wasted no time in bolting away at her reopened path to freedom.

Jamack bent his knees and pulled his tongue back, sending the Scooter skunk forward and straight into Loretta. They both fell into a heap on the ground just as Harris’s bat met defensively with the third skunk’s weapon.

“Go! We’ll handle this, just get the human!” he shouted as he barely ducked under the Scooter Skunk’s swing and backed up.

Jamack nodded and grinned as the gift he’d been given scrambled out of the underpass towards the other side. He sprinted forward and eyed a nearby light pole. Why waste time on his feet? The Mod frog took in a deep breath and launched his tongue around the vertical pole, launching himself forward with greater speed.

The human glanced behind to find an uncomfortable sight. Jamack was heading right for her. The human’s mind raced faster, darting it’s head around for any sort of quick fix to the current predicament. Luckily, it was found in the form of the dirt that she ran under. The human’s run morphed into a slide as her hands collected a handful of fine dust. Jamack only got to register the smirk on the young human’s face as a cloud of dust rapidly overtook his vision. The Mod frog got the memo swiftly with just enough time to bring both arms protectively over his eyes as the dust cloud consumed him.

“Crafty girl, I’ll give her that.” Jamack admitted to himself through gritted teeth as the dust settled. He wasn’t expecting less, but he gave credit where it was due. The Mod frog took a second to brush off some of the mess she made on his Mod suit. But as much as his dirtied suit irritated him to no end, Jamack had bigger things on his mind.

He caught glimpse of the human as she cleared a swift turn into a worn-down shop and put feet to ground as his pursuit continued.

Maintaining a clean and pristine Mod suit would have to wait for the moment.

* * *

A loud crash was heard within the shop just as Jamack passed through the entrance. He darted his eyes around and met fast with the open door of a room that led further in. The Mod frog bounded forth and passed, quickly finding the source of the raucous noise. The dated, wooden floor had collapse under itself, a large hole left in it’s wake.

Jamack looked down it as the dust cleared to fine the human hanging by a single hand. Her other hand was busy with clutching the square, paper-like object in her remaining, dangling hand for dear life.

“No, no, no, please, please...” the human muttered as the tears slid down her cheeks, her face contorted with absolute horror as her once-firm grip on the floorboard began to loosen.

The second the human’s hand slipped, two things happened:

Jamack’s tongue shot out and responded quickly to the human’s rapid decent, wrapping around her waist and placing her on solid ground away from the hole. The second thing being Jamack’s tongue shooting back down the hole again to retrieve the small, thin object that the human had dropped upon letting go. He had noticed her hiding something within her cloak earlier, and this _had_ to be it.

 _“Perfect leverage to keep you from running.”_ Jamack thought cunningly to himself.

The young human grimaced at the tongue that let her go, leaving her free to do as she wished. But as she got to her feet, they refused to budge.

“Give it back.” the human girl told the Mod frog in a low, growling tone.

Chuckling, Jamack pulled the square object from his tongue and waved it tauntingly close to the hole in the ground next to them. “One wrong move against or away from me, and this precious item of yours goes for a trip down the rabbit hole.”

Seeing a visible concern perk up on the human’s face, Jamack knew she was here to stay. However, he had to know more about the leverage piece he held for it to be of any practical use. The human widened her eyes as the Mod frog drew the flimsy item in front of him.

“A photograph, huh? Looks pretty important. Say...who are these-” Jamack started before he was interrupted.

“My family!” the human angrily revealed with clenched fist drawn out in front of her. “My parents and brother! Now give it _back_! Please...or I’ll...”

Despite the angry bravado the teen gave off, Jamack had noticed the human’s legs we’re trembling. Tears began to fall down her pale checks.

Jamack paused as the context was finally put together.

“You we’re running from those scooter punks...after you found your old hideout. Is that it? You went back for your family’s stuff?” Jamack assumed, making full contact with her eye’s.

A simple, solemn “Yes.” followed.

The human no longer held any visible anger. As the human collapsed onto the floor, all that was left was sadness. The teen clearly wanted no part in showing weakness, but the emotions came out as they pleased regardless.

Jamack stood frozen in time the second the human gave her answer. A pressure overtook his thoughts for the second time. He was as still as a stone statue. Perhaps this was his weakness. Something he had also wanted no part in showing. But thinking back, maybe he should’ve heeded the warning signs.

Carrying about the human Harris had killed in self-defense.

Capturing the human’s partner Elise and turning her into Scarlemange.

Caring about the stuff he had _always_ did. Why now?

Why was _HE_ of all frogs-

  
**_“You need to do some soul-searching.”_ **

  
Jamack’s head slowly dropped low as the words cut through his brain to haunt him once more. His eyes were forced to stare deeply into the frozen image of the human’s family. Their smiles beamed a cheerful light that the human would most likely never see again in person.

A build up of oxygen expanded his chest.

And then it left his mouth.

The crying human’s eyes widened in shock as the photograph was held out in front of her. She looked up at the Mod frog -with a confused and distant look. Jamack knew it all too well. It was a look of a wavering distrust. 

“Take it.” Jamack told her, drawing his eyes up and away from the younger human. “Take it and go. And _fast_. This is your only chance. And if we meet again...” Jamack erased the thought. “Just take it and scram.”

The human slowly arose to her full height and flicked her eyes back and forth between the Mod frog and the photograph. The invitation wasn’t left up for long. With a swift snatch from the frog mute’s hand, the photograph and the human were gone. The girl slipped past Jamack and through the back door. As the door flew open and the sunlight washed over her, Jamack caught the human’s gaze one last time before she turned the corner out of sight.

Jamack stood stagnant with his hands in his pockets. Without another though, he rotated and began to walk back the same way he came. He didn’t know what else to think. He had just willingly let a human free. He never did that. Ever.

But that lasting pressure on his mind did finally lift. The one that had plagued him all day. He thought about what had dragged his conscious to the forefront after all his years of being a Mod frog. Ever since he was a tadpole, he’d been hammered the Mod frog ideals. So why was he getting softer!? It irritated him to no-

Then he paused again. His eyes fixated on the worn-out and broken titles of the shop floor. The first idea sparked into his mind.

“Stupid Kipo...” Jamack muttered to himself as he reached for the shop entrance’s door. “Stupid, _cotton candy-haired_ little...”

Jamack continued his silent ranting as he slung the door open and the sunlight fully met with him.  
“” _You need to do some **soooul-searching**._” the Mod frog repeated mockingly. “Yeah well-”

“Took you long enough, Macky.”

Jamack froze and turned to his left to find his fellow Mod frogs. Harris leaned against the shop’s wall while Brody stood with narrowed eyes, a bump on his head clearly apparent. That Scooter Skunk’s wrench definitely left it’s mark.

“H-hey! Um, so the Scooter Skunks are taken ca-”

Harris unfurled his arms and took a few solid steps forward. “So...where’s the human?”

Jamack felt a wave of nausea pass throughout his body. He tapped his foot twice and gave out a manufactured sigh. “Damn human got away. First the brat dirties my suit and then she nearly has me fall through the floorboards of this stupid, run-down building!” Jamack punctuated his act by kicking the wall of the shop. “Not having a good day. Let’s just get back to the car and go back.”

Jamack passed by the two Mods with a disgruntled expression. Harris and Brody turned and looked at each other, knowing smiles stretching on their faces.

By the time they got to the car, Kwat was still there waiting. She had already pushed the damaged, but still functional Mod car back onto the road. That frog was always handy to have around when your car needs a good push. Or _flip_ , depending on the circumstances.

The doors open, closed, and they were back on the road towards base.

Seconds passed.

Jamack turned immediately at the sound of a flicker.

A look of complete surprise took over him as the scent of a freshly lit cigarette passed over. Harris store into the distance from his passenger-side window as he wavered the smoking cylinder in his hand.

“You...smoking again? You okay? Thought you quit...” Jamack asked, half-expecting a ranting outburst about his failed love-life, or something or the sort.

“Testaments and revelations, Jamack. Testaments...” Harris paused to tap the burning edge of the lit out of the open window. He never finished the second part again.

Jamack allowed the foreign, burning scent to punctuate the ride back the territory as he returned eyes to the road again.

* * *

  
The morning was long gone and in the distance, a sunset of an overwhelmingly orange hue took over the sky.

The black vehicle made it back to pond territory, but the front bumper was busted and mangled. They’d need to find a new ride if they were to avoid constantly getting laughed off by every Mod frog that passed by. Well, as they parked, Jamack and the crew caught snickers from the various Mod frogs present. They definitely noticed the rather unmissable front damage. 

As Jamack and his crew approached, their boss, Sartori, took notice. She flew to them with her fly assistance’s help.  
“What held you three up? Not like you to be this late.” Sartori asked with the usual, stern look.

“Well, we were held u-”

Harris laid a hand on Jamack’s shoulder, promptly stopping him. Harris met him directly into his eyes and smirked. “Don’t worry.” Harris told him simply.

“Kwat...if you would please.” Harris said to the broad Mod frog as he pulled out his second cigarette of the day.

Jamack barely had time to react before his vision blurred. By the time he recuperated, his face was already shoved against the ground, held down by Kwat’s strong restraint.

“What the hell is the meaning of this! Let me go!” Jamack demanded with a loud rage, trying in vain to keep from gathering grass into his mouth. But he remained unable to move, despite his commands.

Mrs. Sartori looked on in shock before her expression contorted to that of an anger of her own.  
“What in Mute’s name are you doing, Harris!? I swear Kwat! If you don’t let-”

Harris took the chance of ignoring his supervisor’s order, kneeling down in front of Jamack and lit the cigarette in front of him.

“Harris! Why are you doing this? What did I-”

“ _Revelations_ , Jamack.” Harris cut in smoothly before taking a drag of his smoke. The tree frog mute gazed directly into Jamack’s eyes with a creeping smirk overtaking his lips. He then twisted back towards Satori and let loose his build-up of smoke.

“Are so called “Mod frog” here...is a _snake_.” Harris said to Sartori.

Mrs. Sartori was still not impressed. With the help of her fly assistants, she hovered up to Harris’s height and bore down on him, highlighting an unmistakable seriousness. “Harris...if you do not clarify now, I will take an eye of yours as a warning not to test me again.”

“No need, no need.” Harris waved his hands out in front of him with a cool demeanor. His cigarette still burning, he knelt back down to Jamack and held the burnt end of his cigarette close to his cheek. “Now...my ol’ buddy, ol’ pal...please tell our boss here about how you let that human go today?”

The words sent an uncontrollable chill rippling through Jamack’s body. He should’ve known. He should’ve known the moment he met with them so suddenly out of the old shop. The revelation Harris meant was now as clear as crystal. If they didn’t hear it, they most definitely saw it.

The remaining ordeal with the human. The relapse of judgment. The handing-over of the photograph. The releasing of the human. The entire incrimination.

“No point in playing dumb, right?” Harris asked with a nervous smile.

Harris didn’t answer. He only drew the cigarette’s burning end dangerously closer. Finally, Jamack croaked.

“Alright, yes! I let a human go, okay! But it was just a _kid_! I know we’re supposed to-” Jamack was cut off by 

“Enough Harris.” Sartori ordered, her eyes glaring down on Harris with a growing utter contempt. She leapt from the support of her mute flies and landed in front of Jamack. Reaching into her suit, a shiny pair of long scissors came into view.

Jamack’s heart dropped.

“You know the rules. The consequences. You were told and told it over and over again since your livelihood as a young tad. The Mod Frog mantra. There is no questioning it. And there is no more need for your tie.” Mrs. Sartori told him as she gripped the black tie roughly, effectively choking him.

Jamack gasped for breath and eyed the scissors as they unhesitatingly snipped his formal Mod tie cleanly in half.

He was officially a Mod Frog no more.

“But that’s far from the only thing you deserve. Why should I stop there?” Sartori told Jamack. A wicked grinned took over her face. “Make sure he can’t escape. Harris...hold his mouth open.”

Jamack could only do so much as Harris forced open his mouth, Sartori reaching in to grip his tongue. She pulled it out harshly and hovered the blades in between.

“This is your true punishment. A true Mod Frog’s gift is their _tongue_.” Sartori’s voice chilled Jamack to the bone.

 _“Not like this.”_ Jamack thought as the scissors got closer. _“Not like this! Not a chance!”_

The Jamack’s brain jolted into survival mode. They held down his arms and chest. _But not his legs._

What Harris and Kwat had thought was more desperate struggling was actually a more calm and deliberate Jamack putting a last-effort plan into action. He was actually positioning his feet as straight as he could muster. He managed as much strength into his jump as he possibly could. To Harris and the rest of the Mod frog’s surprise, Jamack had actually managed to leap himself upwards, sending Harris and Kwat off of him.

The Mod frogs all watched as Jamack frantically searched for a follow-up. He could already tell Brody and Harris were ready to bring him back down, their mouths expanding and aiming their tongue launches toward him. But just then, Jamack found a tree. Sending out his un-snipped tongue, it moved fast to wrap around the nearby tree trunk and shot him away from the pond.

By the time Harris had moved to follow, Jamack was too far away to chase.

“Leave him. He’s got no tribe. No tie. and no pride. He’s _already_ dead.” Sartori told Harris as she turned away.

* * *

Down the road Jamack went, head low, hands in his pockets. The road stretched on for an unaccounted amount of miles. He had no use for measuring the distance traveled, as there was no other place he had planned to go.

So as the sun made it’s final bid for the day, he kept on until he ended up passing through a park. He marched on and on until he heard a sudden melodic noise resound out from above him.

Jamack shot his head upwards, ready for an ambush.

What he got instead was a familiar face. That the sea otter...

“Puck? Ugh, not _you_ again.” Jamack rolled his eyes and turned to walk away.

“Aw, don’t be so down, dear chap! What’s on your mind?” the sea otter asked with a melody to accompany.

“None of your business, sea rat.” Jamack quickly retorted, waving him off.

Jamack continued on for a few steps...and then stopped. He slowly turned back around with his arms crossed and eyes closed.

“Well, I mean, since you _asked_...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending Song: [Flying Lotus - More](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xl0XBQ08wbg)
> 
> Longest chapter to date. I hope you're all avid readers lol

**Author's Note:**

> With season 3 of the magnificent KIPO now fresh out, I'm hoping to set this alternative universe on a path that still manages to surprise and thrill. Here's to sticking along with this for the long-haul!


End file.
